According to this article, while there have been improvements as a result of cash transfer programs, the level of child labor in Mexico has not decreased as expected. The researchers used Child Labor Modules to provide an estimation of child labor for children in Mexico between the ages 5 and 17. The researchers discovered that small perceived differences between opportunities costs had a significant effect on child labor. Family structure, definitions of child labor, and gender had an impact as well.
The study notes that when income levels are high, investigation does not require any great comparable assessment as to whether or not to send a child to school. When income is low, the need to decide whether or not to go to school is replaced by the need to decide whether or not to send a child to work. The researcher in this study investigates the “relationship between child labor and the opportunity cost of schooling, taking into account other factors that influence parents’ decisions about child labor and schooling.”
Cummings notes that is a common belief that poverty is the reason children participate in child labor, but she notes that not all children who are poor participate in child labor. Cummings states that in Mexico, more than 90% of children go to school, of these children, 35% live in poverty. This means that over 70% of children in poverty go to school. Cummings continues by stating that most decisions made by parents about child labor are based on the assessment between the costs of sending the child to school and the long-term benefits of sending their child to school. These assessments above are based on the idea that parents are altruistic when it comes to making decisions for their children. Cummings notes that there is little empirical information on the altruistic behavior of parents. However, she notes that parents who are beneficiaries of PROGRESA spend more money on goods for their children than those who do not receive such benefits.
The study found that child labor is significantly correlated with well-being and income; but it is also influenced by perceived cost of schooling. This is correlated with parents’ education and place of residence. Cummings notes that child labor is important in that it has a negative impact on development and “creates poverty traps that facilitate intergenerational reproduction of poverty…” Cummings states that “policies to increase school attendance can have a positive effect in reducing child labor.”
