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Children's Schooling and Work in the Presence of a Conditional Cash Transfer Program in Rural Colombia

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  • Orazio Attanasio
  • Emla Fitzsimons
  • Ana Gomez
  • Martha Isabel Gutiérrez
  • Costas Meghir
  • Alice Mesnard

Abstract

The paper studies the effects of Familias en Acción, a conditional cash transfer program implemented in rural areas in Colombia since 2002, on school enrollment and child labor. Using a difference-in-difference framework, our results show that the program increased school participation of 14-17-year-old children quite substantially, by between 5 and 7 percentage points and had lower effects on the enrollment of younger children, in the region of 1-3 percentage points. The effects on work are largest in the relatively more urbanized parts of rural areas and particularly for younger children, whose participation in domestic work decreased by around 13 percentage points after the program, as compared to a decrease of 10 percentage points for older children in these same areas. The program had no discernible impacts on children's work in more rural areas. Participation in income-generating work remained largely unaffected by the program. We also find evidence of school and work time not being fully substitutable, suggesting that some, but not all, of the increased time at school may be drawn from children's leisure time. (c) 2010 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

Suggested Citation

  • Orazio Attanasio & Emla Fitzsimons & Ana Gomez & Martha Isabel Gutiérrez & Costas Meghir & Alice Mesnard, 2010. "Children's Schooling and Work in the Presence of a Conditional Cash Transfer Program in Rural Colombia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(2), pages 181-210, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:v:58:y:2010:i:2:p:181-210
    DOI: 10.1086/648188
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Emmanuel Skoufias & Susan Wendy Parker, 2001. "Conditional Cash Transfers and Their Impact on Child Work and Schooling: Evidence from the PROGRESA Program in Mexico," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2001), pages 45-96, August.
    2. Sudhanshu Handa & Benjamin Davis, 2006. "The Experience of Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America and the Caribbean," Working Papers 06-07, Agricultural and Development Economics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO - ESA).
    3. repec:bla:devpol:v:24:y:2006:i:5:p:513-536 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Ray, Ranjan, 2000. "Child Labor, Child Schooling, and Their Interaction with Adult Labor: Empirical Evidence for Peru and Pakistan," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 14(2), pages 347-367, May.
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