Monitoring International Labor Standards: Human Capital Investment Summary of a Workshop (2003) / Chapter Skim
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3. Human Capital Investments Related to Child Labor
3. Human Capital Investments Related to Child Labor
Pages 11-24
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From page 11... ...
, nonformal education (e.g., programs that help transition child laborers from work to formal school, vocational training, etc.) , and how these interrelated issues impact child labor.1 Presenters were asked to consider how to integrate child labor policy into an overall policy framework that encompassed, for example, education and vocational training, poverty reduction, and labor and social protection.
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From page 12... ...
t's not the case that countries that malce a stronger effort vis-a-vis education expenditures have lower child labor, at least not at the aggregate level" (Figure 3-21. He also looked at change in public education expenditures as a percentage of GDP and the change in labor force participation for children ages 10 to 14 and found no relationship (Figure 3-31.
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From page 13... ...
~ 4. ~ -, S 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Public Education Expenditure as a Percentage of Total Government Expenditurea 13 FIGURE 3-2 Child labor and public education expenditures as a percentage of total government expenditures, 1998.6c aPublic education expenditures as a percentage of total government expenditures refer to data from 1995 to 1997 the most recent years available.
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in aPrimary school pupil/teacher ratio is the number of pupils enrolled in primary schools divided by the number of primary school teachers (regardless of their teaching assignment)
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TARGETED ENROLLMENT SUBSIDIES: DEBORAH LEVISON, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA Deborah Levison provided an overview of subsidy programs targeted to poor families to eliminate child labor and to increase human capital accumulation. She explained that changing patterns in child activitieswork, school, and play have an important role in demographers' theories of demographic transition.
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From page 16... ...
Levis on said that Programa die ErradLicacao duo TraIDalho Infantil, the Brazilian program to eliminate child labor, does not have enough funding to enable all eligible children to participate. This has two adverse effects: Working children who don't participate in the program become more likely to work more hours, because the supply of child workers in the area has contracted so there is greater demand.
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From page 17... ...
. Levison provided cost figures for the program: Cash transfers range from about $9 per month for a third grader to $30 to $35 for students in the third year of secondary school ($30 for boys, $35 for girls)
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From page 18... ...
When most children are spending only three to five hours a day in school, there are many hours left to fib, and CCT programs cannot be expected to remove children from work activities in this context. Last, she noted that targeting education as an objective circumvents difficulties encountered by programs targeting child workers, particularly in urban areas.
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From page 19... ...
He noted that one of the desired outcomes of NFE programs is to help children transition to formal schooling. Therefore, benefits in reducing child labor that would be attributed to formal schooling would actually be an indirect result of NFE.
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He concluded by emphasizing the need for more data to explore the cost-effectiveness of NFE programs. DISCUSSANT: DRUSILLA BROWN, TUFTS UNIVERSITY Before reflecting on the previous presentations, Drusilla Brown provided historical and empirical evidence related to policy interventions to eliminate child labor.
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From page 21... ...
Both have important implications for the amount of time children spend working. For example, empirical evidence shows that families with land holdings and family enterprises tend to turn to internal labor markets during labor-intensive harvest seasons, hiring family members (including children)
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From page 22... ...
In response to the previous presentations, Brown cautioned that although evidence shows that CCT programs are effective, there are still populations of working children who are hard to reach, especially those children engaged in family agricultural enterprises. This finding that CCT programs do not reach all the working children shows up in the empirical evidence, Brown said, and also plays an important role in understanding how these targeted interventions actually work.
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From page 23... ...
She presented the argument that unless there are incentives to encourageor rules to force employers to pay adult wages to all workers, the economic incentive to hire children illegally will continue to exist. Drusilla Brown cited three reasons that are often given for using child labor: First, children are more compliant, usually out of fear of violent forms of discipline.
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From page 24... ...
Drusilla Brown noted that an examination of minimum-age-for-work laws and education laws would not provide a complete measure of compliance. She suggested looking at countries that do not conform to the expected patterns of economic growth and decreasing rates of child labor.
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