Revisiting the Link Between Poverty and Child Labor: The Ghanaian Experience

Abstract

The link between poverty and child labor has Moreover, they find evidence of a gender gap in child traditionally been regarded as well established. But labor linked to poverty. Girls as a group (as well as recent research has questioned the validity of this link, across urban, rural, and poverty subsamples) are claiming that poverty is not a main determinant of child consistently found to be more likely to engage in harmful labor. child labor than boys. This gender gap may reflect Starting from the premise that child labor is not cultural norms (an issue that calls for further research). necessarily harmful, Blunch and Verner analyze the The incidence of child labor increases with age, determinants of harmful child labor, viewed as child especially for girls. labor that directly conflicts with children's accumulation In Ghana there are structural differences-across of human capital, in an effort to identify the most gender, between rural and urban locations, and across vulnerable groups. Identifying these groups might enable poverty quintiles of households-in the processes policymakers to take appropriate action. underlying child labor. The authors reinstate the positive relationship between poverty and child labor. This paper-a joint product of Human Development 3, Africa Technical Families, and the Economic Policy Sector Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean Region-is part of a larger effort in the Bank to investigate and understand the processes underlying child labor. Copies of the paper are available free from the World Bank,

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