Module: Mod. (5) – Education, labour and gender issues for developing countries
Name of course: The economics of child labour
Course instructor: Furio Rosati, Director, Understanding Children’s Work (UCW) project – a joint ILO, UNICEF and World Bank research cooperation project
Course description:
Child labour remains a pervasive global problem. ILO estimates that 168 million children were engaged in child labour in 2012. Of these, more than half (85 million) were in hazardous forms of work, meaning work “likely to jeopardize/harm their health, safety or morals” (ILO Conventions Nos. 138 and 182). Child labour has severe implications for meeting the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and particularly the goal of universal primary education. It interferes with schooling, reduces human capital accumulation, and perpetuates poverty.
The proposed course tries to bring together the conceptual, theoretical, methodological and empirical material required for analysis and policy/intervention design in the area of child labour.
Overall objectives are to:
(i) improve understanding of child labour and its analytical underpinnings;
(ii) strengthen the ability to analyse and use child labour data for policy design and programme implementation including monitoring and evaluation.
(iii) raise awareness of child labour as an impediment to achieving the SDGs;
(iv) improve understanding of youth labour market problems: their nature and consequences.
Course contents would make use of relevant materials drawn from UCW research and the broader literature on child labour.
Duration: 12 hours
Exam: working group
Recommended readings: A. Sen, Commodities and Capabilities , 1999, Oxford University Press
A.Cigno and F.C. Rosati “The economics of child labour”, 2005, Oxford University Press
ILO 2013. World Report on Child Labour Economic vulnerability, social protection and the fight against child labour. International Labour Office. Geneva: ILO, 2013
UCW report (2010). Child Labour: Trends, Challenges and Policy Responses - Joining Forces against Child Labour, at www.ucw-project.org
2013 "Pathways to work in the developing world: An analysis of young persons’ transition from school to the workplace". (G. Dachille, M.Manacorda,M. Ranzani, F.C. Rosati) UCW working paper, at www.ucw-project.org
2012 "Youth disadvantage in the labour market: Empirical evidence from nine developing countries" (L.Guarcello, I. Kovrova, S.Lyon ) , UCW working paper, at www.ucw-project.org
2012 "At the margins: NEET youths in the developing world". Background paper for the World Bank World Development Report 2012. (L.Guarcello, S.Lyon, F.Rosati) , UCW working paper, at www.ucw-project.org
L.Guarcello, I.Kovrova, F.C. Rosati (2007). “Child labour as a response to shocks: evidence from Cambodian villages”, UCW working paper at www.ucw-project.org
L.Guarcello, F.C. Rosati (2007). “Does school quality matter for working children?” UCW working paper at www.ucw-project.org
UCW report (2007). Enfants mendicants dans la Region de Dakar, UCW working paper at www.ucw-project.org
L.Guarcello, F.C. Rosati, S.Lyon (2006). The Twin Challenges of Child Labour and Youth Employment in Ethiopia, UCW working paper at www.ucw-project.org
UCW report (2005). “School to work transition in Sub-Saharan countries”, UCW working paper at www.ucw-project.org
Gertler, P. J., S. Martinez, P. Premand, L. B. Rawlings, C. M. J. Vermeersch (2011). Impact Evaluation in Practice, The World Bank, Washington DC.
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTHDOFFICE/Resources/5485726-1295455628620/Impact_Evaluation_in_Practice.pdf
Khandker, S. R., G. B. Koolwal, H. A. Samad(2010). Handbook on Impact Evaluation: Quantitative Methods and Practices, The World Bank, Washington DC.
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2009/12/10/000333037_20091210014322/Rendered/PDF/520990PUB0EPI1101Official0Use0Only1.pdf
Other material and relevant papers will be distributed during the lectures.
Links:
www.ucw-project.org
www.ilo.org\ipec
www.unicef.org
www.worldbank.org