Wealth: Crucial But Not Sufficient Evidence from Pakistan on Economic Growth, Child Labor, and Schooling

38 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

Date Written: February 1, 2009

Abstract

The relationship between wealth and child labor has been widely examined. This paper uses three rounds of time-series, cross-sectional data to examine the relationship between wealth and child labor and schooling. The paper finds that wealth is crucial in determining a child's activities, but that this factor is far from being a sufficient condition to enroll a child in school. This is particularly the case for rural girls. Nonparametric analysis shows a universal increase in school enrollment for rural girls from 1998 to 2006. This increase is independent of wealth (measured by per capita expenditure). Multinomial logit regression further shows that wealth is insignificant in determining rural girls'activity decisions. Thus, interventions to increase school enrollment should incorporate broad-targeted, demand-side interventions as well as supply-side interventions.

Keywords: Primary Education, Youth and Governance, Adolescent Health, Rural Poverty Reduction, Population Policies

Suggested Citation

Hou, Xiaohui, Wealth: Crucial But Not Sufficient Evidence from Pakistan on Economic Growth, Child Labor, and Schooling (February 1, 2009). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4831, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1344716

Xiaohui Hou (Contact Author)

World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

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