Effects of Public Policy on Child Labor : Current Knowledge, Gaps, and Implications for Program Design
Many policy instruments can be used to address or affect child labor, even if they are implemented to achieve other objectives. From a theoretical point of view, however, the impact of these policies on child labor is undetermined. This paper discu...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/108841488913017526/Effects-of-public-policy-on-child-labor-current-knowledge-gaps-and-implications-for-program-design http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26249 |
| Summary: | Many policy instruments can be used to
address or affect child labor, even if they are implemented
to achieve other objectives. From a theoretical point of
view, however, the impact of these policies on child labor
is undetermined. This paper discusses the evidence generated
by rigorous evaluations on the impact on child labor of
labor market programs, conditional and unconditional
transfers, and microcredit, among other social programs and
interventions. The study finds that although transfer
programs generally tend to reduce child labor, other
policies risk increasing child labor, especially if they
affect households' productive opportunities. The
findings also point to knowledge gaps that should be
addressed in future evaluations. While progress has been
made over the past decade, there is still much to learn
about the effects of public policy on the labor
participation of many children in developing countries. |
|---|