Remittances and Child Labour in Africa: Evidence from Burkina Faso

Arbeitspapier

This paper explores the effects of remittance receipt on child labour in an African context. We focus on Burkina Faso, a country with a high prevalence of child labour and a high rate of migration. Given the complex relationship between remittance receipt and child labour, our identification relies on different instruments capturing the employment conditions in remittance-sending countries. We first find that receiving remittances has no significant effect on child labour on average. However, when the disruptive effect from the absence of a family member is ruled out, remittances significantly reduce child labour. We provide an extensive robustness check and estimate heterogeneous effects. These show no gender difference but a significant age effect: remittances affect the labour market participation of younger children only, suggesting a progressive integration of children into work activities.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 8007

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Remittances ; Education and Economic Development ; Time Allocation and Labor Supply
• Subject: child labour ; migration ; Africa ; remittances

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Boutin, Delphine
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2014

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/99045
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET