title: Is Child Labor a Barrier to School Enrollment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries?
abstract: Achieving universal primary education is one of the Millennium Development Goals. In low- and middle-income developing countries (LMIC), child labor may be a barrier. Few multi-country, controlled studies of the relations between different kinds of child labor and schooling are available. This study employs 186,795 families with 7- to 14-year-old children in 30 LMIC to explore relations of children's work outside the home, family work, and household chores with school enrollment. Significant negative relations emerged between each form of child labor and school enrollment, but relations were more consistent for family work and household chores than work outside the home. All relations were moderated by country and sometimes by gender. These differentiated findings have nuanced policy implications.
authors.affiliation: Child and Family Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health Public Health Service.
authors.forename: Diane L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Putnick
authors.affiliation: Child and Family Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health Public Health Service.
authors.forename: Marc H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Bornstein
keywords: Child labor; LMIC; school enrollment