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Revisiting the link between poverty and child labor - the Ghanaian experience

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Author Info
Blunch, Niels-Hugo
Verner, Dorte

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Abstract

The link between poverty, and child labor has traditionally been regarded as well established. But recent research has questioned the validity of this link, claiming that poverty is not a main determinant of child labor. Starting from the premise that child labor is not necessarily harmful, the authors analyze the determinants of harmful child labor, viewed as child labor that directly conflicts with children's accumulation of human capital, in an effort to identify the most vulnerable groups. Identifying these groups might enable policymakers to take appropriate action. The authors estimate the positive relationship between poverty, and child labor. Moreover, they find evidence of a gender gap in child labor, linked to poverty. Girls as a group (as well as across urban, rural, and poverty sub-samples) are consistently found to be more likely to engage in harmful child labor, than boys. This gender gap may reflect cultural norms (an issue that calls for further research). The incidence of child labor increases with age, especially forgirls. In Ghana, there are structural differences - across gender, between rural and urban locations, and across poverty quintiles of households - in the processes underlying child labor.

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Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 2488.

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Date of creation: 30 Nov 2000
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Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:2488

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Related research
Keywords: Street Children; Youth and Governance; Children and Youth; Poverty Assessment; Labor Standards;

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Basu, Kaushik & Van, Pham Hoang, 1998. "The Economics of Child Labor," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 412-27, June.
  2. Easterly, William & Levine, Ross, 1997. "Africa's Growth Tragedy: Policies and Ethnic Divisions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(4), pages 1203-50, November.
    Other versions:
  3. Nielsen, H.S., 1998. "Child Labor and School Attendance: Two Joint Decisions," Papers 98-15, Centre for Labour Market and Social Research, Danmark-.
  4. Canagarajah, Sudharshan & Coulombe, Harold, 1997. "Child labor and schooling in Ghana," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1844, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  5. Lavy, Victor, 1996. "School supply constraints and children's educational outcomes in rural Ghana," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 291-314, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Grootaert, Christiaan & Kanbur, Ravi, 1995. "Child labor : a review," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1454, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Uma S. Kambhampati & Raji Rajan, 2004. "The 'Nowhere' Children: Patriarchy and the Role of Girls in India's Rural Economy," Economics & Management Discussion Papers em-dp2004-21, Henley Business School, Reading University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Yacouba Diallo, 2001. "Les déterminants du travail des enfants en Côte d'Ivoire," Documents de travail 55, Groupe d'Economie du Développement de l'Université Montesquieu Bordeaux IV. [Downloadable!]
  3. Bernhard Ganglmair, 2005. "Intrinsic Competition and the Labor-Schooling Trade-off in Uganda Competition in Child Labor and Schooling Decision Making in Uganda. Evidence from a Bivariate Probit Model," Labor and Demography 0504002, EconWPA, revised 21 Sep 2005. [Downloadable!]
  4. Nkamleu, Guy Blaise, 2006. "Poverty and Child Farm Labor in Africa: Wealth Paradox or bad Orthodoxy," MPRA Paper 15105, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  5. Benjamin Chiedozie Okpukpara & Ngozi Odurukwe, 2006. "Incidence and determinants of child labour in Nigeria: Implications for poverty alleviation," Research Papers RP_156, African Economic Research Consortium. [Downloadable!]
  6. Rana Ejaz Ali Khan & Karamat Ali, 2005. "Economically Active Children and Home-care Children: How Much They Differ," Labor and Demography 0510013, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  7. Jean-Pierre Lachaud, 2004. "Le travail des enfants et la pauvreté en Afrique : un réexamen appliqué au Burkina Faso," Documents de travail 96, Groupe d'Economie du Développement de l'Université Montesquieu Bordeaux IV. [Downloadable!]
  8. Satya P. Das & Rajat Deb, 2003. "Policies to combat child labor: A dynamic analysis," Indian Statistical Institute, Planning Unit, New Delhi Discussion Papers 04-01, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi, India. [Downloadable!]
  9. Drusilla K. Brown & Alan V. Deardorff & Robert M Stern, 2002. "The Effects of Multinational Production on Wages and Working Conditions in Developing Countries," Working Papers 486, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Agus Priyambada & Asep Suryahadi & Sudarno Sumarto, 2002. "What Happened to Child Labor in Indonesia during the Economic Crisis? The Trade-off between School and Work," Labor Economics Working Papers 87, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  11. Khanam, Rasheda, 2006. "Child labour and school attendance: evidence from Bangladesh," MPRA Paper 6990, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2007. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Daniela Zapata & Dante Contreras, 2004. "Child labor in Bolivia: schooling, gender and ethnic groups," Econometric Society 2004 Latin American Meetings 224, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
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