Child labour And Schooling in Malawi: Does Mother's Employment Matter?

Masiya, Michael and Mussa, Richard (2012): Child labour And Schooling in Malawi: Does Mother's Employment Matter?

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of a monther's employment on child labour and schooling in Malawi using the Third Integrated Household Survey (IHS3) dataset. Children aged 5 to 17 were sampled from the dataset and used in the analysis. The study used a series of multivariate probit models with three main dependent variables: child works, child schooling and mother works. The model is estimated using the GHK (Geweke-Hajivassiliou-Keane) smooth recursive simulator. After estimating the model, the study computed correlations of the error terms for the Seemingly Unrelated Regressions (SUR) to note how they affect each other. The results showed that mother's employment is negatively related to child labour but positively related to child schooling. Another finding was the negative relationship between child labour and child schooling. These results did not change when the model was disaggregated to compare the effects for a boy child and girl child. Several sensitivity analyses were also carried out to affirm the results. Based on the results, policy recommendations include promoting female employment programs by the government so that eventually, child labour may decline and schooling may be encouraged.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: child labour, child schooling, mother employment, female labour force participation, labour economics, Malawi, IHS3 data, microeconometrics
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C1 - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General; D - Microeconomics > D0 - General > D01 - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles; D - Microeconomics > D0 - General > D04 - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation, Implementation, and Evaluation; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J0 - General > J01 - Labor Economics: General; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J0 - General > J08 - Labor Economics Policies; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J21 - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J22 - Time Allocation and Labor Supply; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J3 - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs > J32 - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits ; Retirement Plans ; Private Pensions; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J4 - Particular Labor Markets > J46 - Informal Labor Markets

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