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Child Labor in Bangladesh

Are Children the Last Economic Resource of the Household?

University of Savoie, France

This article uses data from the Bangladesh Labor Force Survey 2000 to analyze the magnitude, nature and determinants of child labor in Bangladesh. The magnitude of the ‘child labor’ problem is large in Bangladesh, with around 5.4–7.9 million, or about one-fifth of all Bangladeshi children between the ages of 5 and 14 years, being classified as child workers in 2000. Most of these child workers work in the agricultural sector. Among the poorest quintile of households, the share of family income contributed by child workers reaches nearly 50 percent. The article finds support for the widely-held hypothesis that poverty compels children to work. The analysis of links between adult employment and child labor also lends support to the hypothesis that children are the last economic resource of the household. Children are much more likely to work when they live in a household where the potential of income generation is low and where this potential has already been used up.

Key Words: adult employment and child work • Bangladesh • child labor • poverty

Journal of Developing Societies, Vol. 21, No. 1-2, 33-54 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0169796X05053066


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