Out of school and (probably) in work: child labour and capability deprivation in India

The links between child labour and poverty in India

By: Jayaraj D & Subramanian S
Published by: World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU/WIDER) , 2005
Via: Eldis

This paper explores the hypothesis that the phenomenon of child labour is explicable in terms of poverty that compels a household to keep its children out of school and put them to work in the cause of the household’s survival. Specifically, the authors examine the link between child labour and poverty in the Indian context. The authors use a mix of analytical reasoning, micro-level findings, and macro-level data in order to elucidate a simple relationship between the phenomena of child labour and generalised capability deprivation. They argue that, as a result, they have advanced the case for adopting a more expansive and inclusive approach to reckoning both child labour and deprivation than is customarily the case.