Cash Transfers and Child Labor

Cash Transfers and Child Labor

Cash transfer programs are widely used in settings where child labor is prevalent. Although many of these programs are explicitly implemented to improve children's welfare, in theory their impact on child labor is undetermined. This paper syst...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	de Hoop, Jacobus, Rosati, Furio C.
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:	ACCOUNTING ADOLESCENT GIRLS ADOLESCENTS AGRICULTURAL SHOCKS BANK POLICY BASIC RIGHTS BENEFICIAL EFFECTS BENEFICIARIES BENEFICIARY BUDGET CONSTRAINT BUDGET CONSTRAINTS CAPACITY BUILDING CAPITAL INVESTMENT CASH TRANSFER CASH TRANSFERS CHILD CARE CHILD HEALTH CHILD LABOR CHILD LABOR LAWS CHILD LABOUR CHILD PARTICIPATION CHILD SUPPORT CHILD WELFARE COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW CONSUMPTION SMOOTHING CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD CREDIT CONSTRAINTS CREDIT RATIONING DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT EFFECTIVENESS DIRECT INVESTMENTS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC DOWNTURNS ECONOMIC THEORY ELIMINATION OF CHILD LABOR EMPLOYMENT EXPENDITURE EXPENDITURES EXTERNALITIES FACE VALUE FAMILY MEMBER FAMILY MEMBERS GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM HOUSEHOLD BUSINESS HOUSEHOLD INCOME HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN RESOURCES INCOME INCOME LEVEL INCOME SHOCKS INCOME STREAM INSTRUMENT INSURANCE INTERNATIONAL BANK INVESTMENT DECISIONS LABOR FORCE LABOR LAWS LABOR MARKET LABOR ORGANIZATION LABOR SUPPLY LEGISLATION LEVY MICROFINANCE NATURAL DISASTERS NEGATIVE SHOCKS OCCUPATIONS OLD-AGE PENSION OLD-AGE PENSIONS PARENTS PENSION PENSIONS PRODUCTIVE INVESTMENT PRODUCTIVE INVESTMENTS RETURN RETURNS SAFETY SAFETY NET SAFETY NETS SCHOOL ATTENDANCE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT SOCIAL PROTECTION TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TEENAGE GIRLS TRANSACTION TRANSFER PAYMENT TRANSITORY INCOME UNEMPLOYMENT WAGES WARRANTS WORKING CHILDREN WORKING HOURS YOUNG WOMEN YOUNGER CHILDREN YOUNGER SIBLINGS
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/03/19322369/cash-transfers-child-labor http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17715

Description
Summary:	Cash transfer programs are widely used in settings where child labor is prevalent. Although many of these programs are explicitly implemented to improve children's welfare, in theory their impact on child labor is undetermined. This paper systematically reviews the empirical evidence on the impact of cash transfers, conditional and unconditional, on child labor. The authors find no evidence that cash transfer interventions increase child labor in practice. On the contrary, there is broad evidence that conditional and unconditional cash transfers lower both children's participation in child labor and hours worked and cushion the effect of economic shocks that may lead households to use child labor as a coping strategy. Boys experience particularly strong decreases in economic activities, girls in household chores. The findings underline the usefulness of cash transfers as a relatively safe policy instrument to improve child welfare, but also point to knowledge gaps, for instance regarding the interplay between cash transfers and other interventions, that should be addressed in future evaluations to provide detailed policy advice.