Child labor is a global problem, generally developed in third world countries. This phenomenon often distracts the child from school, thus preventing him from acquiring the human capital necessary for development. So based on the theory of endogenous growth, low human capital of these children has a negative impact on economic development of their nation. It is important to constrain this phenomenon, since the choices of school or work are rarely made by the child himself and can affect his future development, particularly in terms of employment, productivity and poverty. Child labor therefore deserves special attention. Thus, based on data from the baseline survey on child labor performed by DGSCN in collaboration with ILO-IPEC in 2008, this study aims primarily to study the effect that had the abolition of school fees in primary school in Togo. More specifically we analyze firstly the factors explaining child labor and study on the other hand the impact of this work on the school attendance of children in Togo. First, a descriptive analysis was performed for the photography of children identified and secondly, an estimate by a recursive bivariate probit is used to examine the effect of each variable likely to influence the work or schooling for children surveyed.
The results of the descriptive analysis indicate that over 80% of surveyed children combine school and work, this phenomenon is common in rural areas. Those estimates show that the residential environment, the child's age and socioeconomic status of the household are factors in explaining child labor. These results also show that child labor is negatively correlated with their schooling.
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Keywords: Child labor; School attendance; Poverty
Biography: Master of Science Mathematics and young statistician economist. Has just graduated after completing a 3 month internship at the Directorate General of Statistics and National Accounts in Togo.