Return to Education and Parents’ Characteristics: Evidence on Working Children in Indonesia
Author | : R.G.M. Siahaan |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 85 |
Release | : 2013 |
Genre | : |
ISBN | : |
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Children involvement in employment has gained many attentions from all over the world. On one hand, it is child’s right to develop themselves through education, adequate nutrition, caring from parents, as well as proper environment for their growth. On the other hand, poverty seems preventing children to have a decent growth. They even have to work in their earlier age not only as an added or substitute worker, but also as a permanent worker to help their family’s economy. Many policies and government intervention has been raised to tackle this phenomenon. However, recent research outcome found that poverty is not solely as a main factor that affects working children present in the family. This study tries to find the correlation between parents’ perception on return to education and parents’ characteristics, namely, parents’ health status, parents’ residence, as well as parents’ presence in the family, on the probability children will work. Using Heckman two-step model to calculate the return to education and probit regression on probability children will work, we found that return to education indeed has significant negative relationship on working children. This implies that an increase in return to education will reduce the probability that children have to work. Moreover, the significant positive relationship with parents’ residence and parents’ health condition proved that if a household experienced a “shock” situation such as parents’ absenteeism in the family or parents’ sickness, will increase the probability that children have to work. After all, combination policies to raise the importance of education as well as the availability of formal insurance are needed.