Child Labor and Learning Achievements: The Impact of Children’s Work on School Performance

Abstract

his study describes the tradeoff between hours spent on work and achievements at school by evaluating the impact of the duration of time spent on working each week on the school results of students that work in addition to attending secular school. The study analyzed data collected from a field survey conducted in four provinces of Pakistan. Using an education production function, the study finds that the relationship between working hours and school achievements is strictly negative rather than quadratic (inverted U) for a child engaged in work along with attending secular school. Furthermore, the study finds no evidence for the hypothesis that light work along with attending school will not affect the child’s academic performance.