An approach to child labor in Turkey from the perspective of human capital: Poverty, child labor and human capital cycle

Child labor is one of the socio-economic problems of developing countries. The child labor phenomenon in Turkey is investigated in core family structure with regard to human capital approach in this study. The main goal of the study is to show how the child labor as a function of household decision results in either human develeopment or poverty.In this study, starting with a Cobb-Douglas production function the output per capita is reduced to representation of human capital and factor endowment and it is aimed to measure the human capital accumulation of individuals who have a relationship with child labor. The general case is analyzed by unconditional probability tables. With the help of the hypothesis of ?If there isn?t any child labor by household decisions that is caused by the consequences of poverty with in Turkey, the human capital accumulation would have been much more from present? is tested. The results of model are analyzed by probit tests.The findings indicate that the hypothesis is validated. According to the findings the existence of child labor causes a reduction of human capital accumulation both in the rural and urban areas of Turkey. The unconditional probability results indicate that the employment of children in rural areas is more than the employment of children in urban areas. The education levels of household decision makers in rural areas are lower than those in urban areas. According to probit tests results it is also found that the literate, education and income levels of household heads whose children are employed are negatively affecting the employment of children.From the findings; it can be concluded that instead of falling in vicious cycle of poverty, the human development can be achieved through the increase in the human capital through developing the education and income levels of household decision. This study shows that avoiding human capital accumulation loses in a country for the long term requires the increase in consciousness levels of household decision makers whose decisions about child labour cause poverty vicious cycle.