Child Labor and Education for All: An Issue Paper

Education is a key element in the prevention of child labor; at the same time, child labor is one of the main obstacles to Education For All (EFA). Understanding the interplay between education and child labor is therefore critical to achieving both EFA and child labor elimination goals. This study largely confirms the conventional wisdom that child labor harms children's ability to enter and survive in the school system, and makes it more difficult for children to derive educational benefit from schooling once in the system. The evidence also suggests that these negative effects are not limited to economic activity but also extend to household chores, and that the intensity of work (in economic activity or household chores) is particularly important in determining the impact of work on schooling. This evidence indicates that both the school quality and school access can play an important role in household decisions concerning whether children study or work.