In this dissertation, we first develop a simple two-period model to examine the parent's optimal choice of children's time. We identify factors such as wage rate, school fees, education returns, degree of children's altruism toward their parents and the parents' discounting rate that influence the parents' optimal choice, and discuss their impacts on the optimal choice. Children's time is an important resource for rural households in developing economies, and it is typically allocated by the parents. Two basic uses for this resource are: working in the labor market and attending schools. Schooling today may make children more productive in the future. The opportunity cost of schooling is the forgone wage rate in the labor market. Allocation of children's time is therefore mainly determined by education return, wage rate in labor market and school fees. Many existing models in the literature cannot explain the coexistence of schooling, poverty and the coexistence of child labor and affluence. We extend our basic model to explain the above two paradoxes. We show that, when education return is high and the household is willing to endure extra hardship caused by the child attending school, the coexistence of schooling and poverty can emerge. On the other hand, when the wage rate for child labor and schooling fees are higher than education return, affluence and child labor can co-exist. Governments have adopted various policy tools to fight against child labor, among which the compulsory education law and free education programs stand out. Our basic model is then extended to examine how these two types of government policies may impact child labor. We show the relative performance of the two policies depend crucially on several factors, including the enforcement and the costs to the household of the compulsory education law. We use the recent Chinese experience in changing the compulsory education law to free education plan to illustrate and verify our theoretical prediction.

Microfinance has become one of the most promising tools for development and poverty alleviation over the past two decades. Millions of borrowers around the globe have utilized microcredit to start or expand their small businesses and raise their household income. One poverty-induced problem microfinance could potentially alleviate is child labor. Despite international legislation prohibiting it, child labor continues to deprive millions of children of their right to education. Without education, there is little hope for a country to increase productivity and wealth in the future. A number of scholars have highlighted a negative correlation between credit rationing and child labor. However, there are no studies that examine whether or not children are less likely to work in households that participate in microfinance programs. In some circumstances, microcredit may increase household income and induce parents to withdraw their children from work while in others, raising the household income level may lead children to work more. In low-income countries with numerous microfinance institutions, many children work despite their parents’ access to credit. In order to examine this paradoxical phenomenon, this thesis presents a number of econometric models which analyze both child labor and credit at the household level. Though these models are vital in explaining the relevant trends, a purely economic analysis fails to capture the political and cultural factors that also engender child labor. To illustrate this complex relationship between economics and mores, this thesis highlights the impact of microfinance on child labor in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is an ideal country for this study because microfinance and child labor are both endemic. Finally, conclusions drawn from this analysis inform policy recommendations to amplify the effectiveness of microfinance on diminishing child labor.

We have been in the Philippines where we did a research about child labor. We went to a country in South because we wanted to come home with a deeper understanding of how social work can be practiced in a developing country and to get a bigger global perspective. Child labor is a big subject and therefore we made a demarcation in our research to child labor that we could observe in the urban area Manila. To get answers on our research questions we chosen to do a qualitative study with a triangulation of methods. This means that we used different kind of data collection methods such as, interviews, observation and literature studies. To get interviews we contacted an organization that helped us with contacts on the spot. We interviewed both government and non-government organization to get a broader picture of how they are working with child labor. The observation was made all the time since there were children around us every day, begging or wanted to sell some items to us. The literature was more difficult to find because there isn’t any books about the Philippines in Sweden.      What we have found out is that child labor is a big problem in the Philippines, but that it is a country with a lot of big problems for example poverty. The children in child labor come from poor families that need an extra income. The children doesn’t only work a few hours a week, they often work so much that they drop out of school. Except that the children is missing out of their education there is also a lot of risks involving in child labor. We have been researching about the children’s situations and how government and non- government organizations are working with the issue of child labor and it´s negative effects on the child’s development. We found out that both ILO and the Philippine government have programs right now to support the goal of a child labor free Philippines. We also found out that there is a big lack of trust for the government. To analysis our results we have chosen two theories, the ecological model of human development and development of psychopathology. Both theories are Western but they can be applied on the Philippines if you have the context in mind.

published_or_final_version / History / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

In the world today, economic exploitation of children is one of the most intolerable attacks to humanity. Given the extent of the phenomenon, international action is necessary to ensure its elimination. In this regard, international law can play an important role as it can direct formulations of State policy. Unfortunately, despite numerous normative developments, child labour still exists. Therefore, the author suggests that international action be reoriented at two levels. Firstly, the current approach must be re-evaluated to take into account the social dimension of child labour. Education should be a key focus in the struggle against child labour since it can work to fight the diverse causes of the problem while offering young labourers an alternative. Secondly, as normative control mechanisms are deficient, international law should be completed by direct intervention to ensure education is put at centre stage. Only direct action lead by international and local partners will eliminate the economic exploitation of children.

Thesis (M.Ed. (Educational Management)--Mahidol University, 2008. / LICL has E-Thesis 0036 ; please contact computer services.

Diss. Univ. Bern. - Ref.: Thomas Cottier ; Koref.: Christine Kaufmann. / Includes bibliographical references and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Uppsala Universitet, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 301-309).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 414-427).