Child Schooling and Child Work in the Presence of a Partial Education Subsidy

76 Pages Posted: 18 Sep 2017

See all articles by Jacobus de Hoop

Jacobus de Hoop

University of Rome Tor Vergata

Jed Friedman

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG); World Bank Group

Eeshani Kandpal

World Bank

Furio C. Rosati

University of Rome Tor Vergata - Faculty of Economics

Abstract

Could a partial subsidy for child education increase children's participation in paid work? In contrast to much of the theoretical and empirical child labor literature, this paper shows that child work and school participation can be complements under certain conditions. Using data from the randomized evaluation of a conditional cash transfer program in the Philippines, the analysis finds that some children, who were in neither school nor work before the program, increased participation in school and work-for-pay after the program. Earlier cash transfer programs, notably those in Mexico, Brazil, and Ecuador, increased school attendance while reducing child labor. Those programs fully offset schooling costs, while the transfers under the Philippine transfers fall short of the full costs of schooling for a typical child. As a result, some beneficiary children from poor Philippine households increased work to support their schooling. The additional earnings from this work represent a substantive share of the shortfall in the schooling costs net of transfer. The paper rules out several potential alternative explanations for the increase in child labor, including changes in household productive activities, adult labor supply, and household expenditure patterns that, in principle, can arise after a cash transfer and may also affect the supply of or demand for child labor.

Keywords: cash transfers, child labor, education, education subsidy, Philippines

JEL Classification: C93, I21, J22, O22

Suggested Citation

de Hoop, Jacobus and Friedman, Jed Arnold and Kandpal, Eeshani and Rosati, Furio C., Child Schooling and Child Work in the Presence of a Partial Education Subsidy. IZA Discussion Paper No. 10992, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3037897 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3037897

Jacobus De Hoop (Contact Author)

University of Rome Tor Vergata

Via di Tor Vergata
Rome, Lazio 00133
Italy

Jed Arnold Friedman

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)

1818 H. Street, N.W.
MSN3-311
Washington, DC 20433
United States

World Bank Group ( email )

1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Eeshani Kandpal

World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Furio C. Rosati

University of Rome Tor Vergata - Faculty of Economics ( email )

Via Columbia n.2
Rome, rome 00100
Italy
6 2020 500 (Fax)

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