Revisiting the Link between Poverty and Child Labor : The Ghanaian Experience

Verner, Dorte ; Blunch, Niels-Hugo

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCOUNT;    AGGREGATE LEVEL;    CHILD LABOR;    CHILDHOOD;    COMMUNITY CHARACTERISTICS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-2488
RP-ID  :  WPS2488

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The link between poverty, and childlabor has traditionally been regarded as well established.But recent research has questioned the validity of thislink, claiming that poverty is not a main determinant ofchild labor. Starting from the premise that child labor isnot necessarily harmful, the authors analyze thedeterminants of harmful child labor, viewed as child laborthat directly conflicts with children's accumulation ofhuman capital, in an effort to identify the most vulnerablegroups. Identifying these groups might enable policymakersto take appropriate action. The authors estimate thepositive 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 acrossurban, rural, and poverty sub-samples) are consistentlyfound to be more likely to engage in harmful child labor,than boys. This gender gap may reflect cultural norms (anissue that calls for further research). The incidence ofchild labor increases with age, especially for girls. InGhana, there are structural differences - across gender,between rural and urban locations, and across povertyquintiles of households - in the processes underlying child labor.