Does access to credit reduce child labour? New evidence from Bangladesh

Farzana Munshi, Arefin Kamal, David Fielding

Research output: Preprint/Working paperWorking paper

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Abstract

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8.3 envisages the elimination of all forms of child labour by 2025. However, child labour persists in many parts of the world. This paper examines whether longer and more consistent access to and use of microcredit influences households’ use of child labour. Our dataset comprises two rounds of the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (Round 2 in 2015 and Round 3 in 2018), forming a panel of 4,624 children. The results from a multinomial probit model indicate that access to credit reduces the future likelihood of working for both boys and girls in rural Bangladesh, enabling households to substitute child labour with
hired labour. Our estimates also suggest that household income, land holdings, parental education, household headship and family size influence the prevalence of child labour. Child labour is predominantly observed in credit-constrained rural households, so our findings have important implications for policy to reduce its prevalence in Bangladesh.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherUniversity of Manchester, Global Development Institute
Pages1-22
Number of pages22
Publication statusSubmitted - 30 Jun 2024

Publication series

NameWorking Paper Series

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