Factors Explaining Child Work and Education in Myanmar

Child workers constitute a significant share of the Myanmar labor force, which has translated into an unprotected child labor market. Given the prevalence of issues surrounding school enrollment and dropout rates, this paper investigates the relationship between child work and education. Using data...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dall-Aglio, Chiara
Other Authors: Tsimpo, Clarence, Perge, Emilie
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C The World Bank 2022
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Collection: World Bank E-Library Archive - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
Description
Summary:Child workers constitute a significant share of the Myanmar labor force, which has translated into an unprotected child labor market. Given the prevalence of issues surrounding school enrollment and dropout rates, this paper investigates the relationship between child work and education. Using data from the 2015 Labor Force survey, it studies what factors explain child work and how this can in turn affect schooling outcomes. The study differentiates between children's household chores and wage work. To understand if these two types of activities affect schooling differently, the paper explores if and how work intensity (number of hours worked) plays a role. The findings show that child work has a negative correlation with school enrollment and attendance, to differing degrees depending on the type of work and work intensity, regardless of gender. Overall, wage work is negatively correlated with enrollment and attendance disproportionately more than household chores. Work intensity seems to play a smaller role, but it still matters when looking at girls' participation in household chores. Working long hours does not seem to have a link with the likelihood of being enrolled and attending school, although it could affect learning outcomes as it reduces the amount of time dedicated to homework and study. However, the data source being some years old, the analysis may not fully reflect the most recent economic and social developments and conditions in Myanmar
Physical Description:27 pages