Many children in developing countries have to work, but child labour has long-term effects on the ability of developing countries to reduce poverty. How many children there are in each family, and how close they live to cities, can shape the type of work they do and the education they receive.

A paper from the Universities of Oxford and Southampton, UK examines the factors behind child labour in Nepal, in particular the effect of how close children live to urban areas. Nepal is mainly rural, with 86 percent of its 21 million people living in villages or small towns who have to travel long distances to reach its cities.

Children between the ages of five and fifteen take part in three main areas of work: work for paid salaries; subsistence work, such as helping out on family farms; and household tasks. More than three quarters work in agriculture, where they face long hours in harsh weather using harmful pesticides and fertilisers. Another eight percent work in domestic services, where there is a high risk of abuse. Children may also help with the family business or help around the house, allowing adults to take on more paid work.

Which types of work children do, and for how long, is affected by the demand and supply of labour, the importance of local agriculture, the education levels of parents, and local wages. Each of these factors can change in relation to how closely a community lives to a major urban area. In Nepal, households living up to three hours of travel time from cities are more likely to take part in non-farm work than in agriculture. They are also more likely to work for a wage and to rely on the market for goods and services that are normally self-provided in rural areas, such as food and water.

This means:

• Children living in or around cities work much less than rural children.
• Children living in or around cities work mostly for wages and in small businesses.
• Work on the family farm and in household tasks is less for those living within a three-hour travel to urban centres.
• School attendance increases dramatically the closer children live to cities.
• Children working as servants are the most likely to be in paid work and least likely to attend school, or to assist the household in subsistence activities.

In terms of child labour and education, the welfare of children improves the closer they live to a city centre. But only some of these benefits are due to distance. In households with many children, older siblings often have to work to help their parents. This is worse for rural children who on average have more brothers and sisters. Many parents try to put their children through education, but poor parents often choose to make some children work in order to send others to school.

Taking all these factors into account, decision-makers must:

• Increase adult wages in areas where child labour is high, as parents with higher salaries are less likely to put children into paid or farm work.
• Look at child labour together with, rather than separately from, the capacity of parents to support themselves and their children.
• Give special attention to the small percentage of children classified as servants, who work much longer hours than most and are at the highest risk.

Source(s):
‘Child labour, urban proximity and household composition’, Journal of Development Economics 79, pages 374-397, by Marcel Fafchamps and Jackline Wahba, January 2006 (PDF) Full document.

id21 Research Highlight: 24 January 2007

Further Information:
Marcel Fafchamps
Department of Economics
University of Oxford
Manor Road
Oxford
OX1 3UQ, UK

Tel: +44 (0)1865 281 446
Fax: +44 (0)1865 281 447
Contact the contributor: marcel.fafchamps@economics.ox.ac.uk

University of Oxford

Jackline Wahba
Economics Division
University of Southampton
Southampton,
SO17 1BJ, UK

Tel: +44 (0)23 80 593996
Fax: +44 (0)23 80 593858
Contact the contributor: j.wahba@soton.ac.uk

University of Southampton

Other related links:
'Does child labour always undermine education?'

'Is child labour in rural economies caused by poverty?'

'Policy or poverty? Links between child labour and educational failure'

Eldis Resource Guide on Child Poverty

Resources from the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)