The Poverty Hypothesis and Intergenerational Transmission of Child Labor: Evidence from Ghana
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61538/ajer.v4i2.443Abstract
This study seeks to find evidence to support the claim that Child labor in Ghana is mainly a poverty phenomenon and follows an inter-generational pattern. The two econometric approaches used show that poor households are more likely to send their children out to work. Furthermore, parents are more likely to send their children out to work if they were child laborers themselves. The study recommends that policy should focus on the reduction of poverty since it is a major determinant of child labor, this will automatically prevent the perpetuation of child labor into the next generation.References
Allison, P. D. (1999), Logistic regression using the SAS system: Theory and application. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.
Amin S., Quayes, S. M. and Rives, J M. (2004), “Poverty and other Determinants of Child Labour in Bangladeshâ€, Southern Economic Journal, Vol. 70, No. 4 (Apr., 2004), pp.
-892.
Ashagrie, K. (1993), “Statistics on Child Laborâ€. Bulletin of Labor Statistics, 3. Geneva: International Labor Organization.
Bhalotra, S. (2003), “Is Child Work Necessary?†Department of Economics, University of Bristol. Discussion Paper No. 03/554
Bhalotra, S.R. and Heady, C.J. (2005), “Determinants of Child Farm Labor in Ghana and Pakistan†Mimeograph, University of Cambridge.
Canagarajah S. and H. Coulombe, (1997), “Child Labor and Schooling in Ghanaâ€. Part of the series undertaken as part of a World Bank Economic and Sector Work (ESW) on Ghana: Labor Markets and Poverty.
Dumas C. (2007), “Why do parents make their children work? A test of the poverty hypothesis in rural areas of Burkina Fasoâ€. Oxford Economic Papers 59 (2007), 301–
Edmonds, E. (2008), “Child Labor.†In Handbook of Development Economics Volume 4, eds. T. Paul Schultz, and John Strauss, 3607-3709. Amsterdam: North Holland.
Emerson, P. and Souza, A. P. (2003), “Is There a Child Labor Trap? Intergenerational Persistence of Child Labor in Brazilâ€, Economic Development and Cultural Change, vol. 51.
Ghana Statistical Service (2003), Ghana Child Labor Survey, Ghana Statistical Service.
Ghana Statistical Service (2014), Child Labor Report, Ghana Statistical Service.
ILO (2002), “Every Child Counts: New Global Estimates on Child Labourâ€, International Labour Organization, Geneva, April.
Jafarey, S., & Lahiri, S. (2000), “Child Labour: Theory, Policy and Evidenceâ€. Accessed 19/05/15 http://www.â€swan.ac.uk/economics/dpapers/2000/wp00-09.pdf
Kufogbe, S., Awadey, C. and Appenteng B. (2005); “Child Labour in Fishing in the Gomoa and Awutu-Efutu-Senya Districts, Ghanaâ€, a Baseline Survey Report; Prepared for International Needs Ghana/ILO/IPEC, Accra, Ghana.
Liao, T. F. (1994), “Interpreting probability models: Logit, probit, and other generalized linear modelsâ€. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Maddala, G. S. (1988), Introduction to econometrics. New York: Macmillan.
Mensa-Bonsu, H.J.A. and Dowuona-Hammond, C. (1996). “The child within the Ghanaian family. In The Changing Family in Ghana†(E. Ardayfio-Schandorf), pp. 5–20.Ghana Universities Press, Accra.
Nielsen, H. S. (1998), “Child Labor and School Attendance: Two Joint Decisionsâ€, CLS WP 98-15. Centre for Labour Market and Social Research, Aarhus, Denmark.
Ray, R. (2000). “Child Labour, Child Schooling, and Their Interaction with Adult Labour:
Empirical Evidence for Peru and Pakistanâ€. The World Bank Economic Review, 14(2), 347-367.
Sackey, E.T. (2013), “Children Balancing Work with School: A Sociocultural Conception of Child Work and Schooling in Cape Coast Metropolitan Area, Ghana†Master’s Thesis in Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Sasaki, M. and Temesgen T. (1999), “Children in Different Activities: Child Labor and Schooling in Peruâ€, Draft, World Bank, Washington, D.C.
The Children’s Act (1998, Act 560). Ghana Parliament House Accra.
Wahba J. (2000), “Do Market Wages Influence Child Labor and Child Schooling?â€. The World Bank, Labor Markets, Pensions, Social Assistance. SP, Discussion Paper no. 0024.
