The Effect of the child labour on economic growth

ABSTRACTThe Master ThesisThe Effect of the Child Labour on Economic GrowthEkrem Ersin CESURDokuz Eylul UniversityInstitute of Social SciencesDepartment of Labour Economics and Industrial RelationsLabour Economics and Industrial Relations ProgrammeChild labour which is the most important source of child exploitation andchild abuse today to International Labour Organization (ILO), is defined aswork that damages children? health, restricts their physical, mental,psychological and social development and jeopardize education facilities that isdone by children the age of 15 (14 in some developing countries).The ILO estimates that 217.7 million children aged 5-14 work throughoutthe world and 74.4 million of those work in hazardous situations and conditions.These conjectural figures display the size and importance of the issue.Child labour is a pervasive problem throughout the world, especially indeveloping countries. Child labour is especially prevalent in rural areas wherethe capacity to enforce minimum age requirements for work is lacking.Children work for a variety of reasons, the most important being poverty andthe induced pressure upon them to escape from this plight. Schooling problemsalso contribute to child labour, whether it be the inaccessibility of schools or thelack of quality education which spurs parents to enter their children in moreprofitable pursuits. Traditional factors such as rigid cultural and social roles incertain countries further limit educational attainment and increase child labor.The another reason of the child labour is the labour market change in theglobalization process. In the structural adjustment programme context, flexibleapplication and deregulasitions give rise to poverty in the developing countriestherefore child labour is increased in these countries.Although, child labour increases family income in short-run, it is given theexact opposite of this result. Child labour jeopardize children? education and tobe well qualified workforce at the same time. Hence, child labour affecteconomic growth negatively in the long-run.Key World: 1) Child Labour, 2) Economic Growth, 3) Unemployment4) Poverty, 5) Social ExclusionV