OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers

ISSN :
1815-199X (online)
DOI :
10.1787/1815199x
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This series is designed to make available to a wider readership selected labour market, social policy and migration studies prepared for use within the OECD. Authorship is usually collective, but principal writers are named. The papers are generally available only in their original language - English or French - with a summary in the other.
 

Child Labour in South Asia You or your institution have access to this content

Authors:
Eric V. Edmonds
Publication Date
20 May 2003
Bibliographic information
No.:
5
Pages
89
DOI
10.1787/586070427316

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  1. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 19% of children aged 5-14 in Asia and the Pacific are economically active (ILO, 2002). These 127.3 million children constitute 60% of all child labourers worldwide. The aim of this study is to better understand child labour in South Asia through in-depth case studies of the child labour experience in three countries: Nepal, Pakistan, and Vietnam.
  2. Several themes about child labour emerge in examining data from these three countries. First, any discussion of child labour needs to consider wage work as well as unpaid work including household production activities. Children who work in one type of activity are more likely to work in other activities as well. Thus, focusing on only one aspect of child employment seriously understates child labour supply. Second, there is some evidence of important substitutions of child and adult labour across different household activities that may be very costly for the welfare of the ...

JEL Classification:
  • J82: Labor and Demographic Economics / Labor Standards: National and International / Labor Force Composition