Publication: Cash Transfers and Child Labor
Date
2014-03
ISSN
Published
2014-03
Author(s)
de Hoop, Jacobus
Rosati, Furio C.
Abstract
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.
Citation
“de Hoop, Jacobus; Rosati, Furio C.. 2014. Cash Transfers and Child Labor. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 6826. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/17715 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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