The impact of MGNREGS on child labour and child education: an empirical analysis

Southeast Asia

India

Labour Market

Public Works

S Das, D Mukherjee

2019

Das, Saswati, and Diganta Mukherjee. “The Impact of MGNREGS on Child Labour and Child Education: An Empirical Analysis.” Development in practice 29.3 (2019): 384–394. Web.
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Secondary data: “Employment and Unemployment Situation in India” Available at: http://microdata.gov.in/nada43/index.php/catalog/EUE.

2019

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)

2006 – N.A.

Achieve sustainable development of an agricultural economy through employing a certain number of person-days.

N. A.

The main objective of this paper is to check the impact of seasonality on child intensity of labour in the presence of MGNREGS. It is expected that the impact might be different for children with different intensities of labour. Hence, first, the authors consider only those households that have at least one child (5–14 years old) and at least one adult member (between 15 and 65 years old) and measure the intensities of labour of these two sets of people using time disposition data of each household member during the last 7 days, provided by NSS (National Sample Survey) for 68th and 61st rounds. In NSS, each day is considered as comprising either two “half days” or a “full-day”. A person is considered as “working” for the full day (i.e., the intensity of work is equal to one) if he/she had worked for 4 h or more during the day. If a person had worked for 1 h, but less than 4 h on a day, he/she is considered as “working” for half a day (i.e., the intensity of work is equal to 0.5).

• Effects of seasonality on child intensity of labor
• Impact of MGNREGS on child intensity of labor
• Impact of seasonality and MGNREGS on human capital formation.

Multinomial logit regression.

Study design:/Identification Strategy: The authors choose children who are not involved in any kind of economic activity as a reference category (CHNL)

and fit a multinomial logit model separated for boys and girls. Demographic characteristics of the household members such as age, sex, educational level, the status of current attendance, and activity status are used as controls. In the employment and unemployment surveys of the large sample rounds of NSS, persons are classified into three activity statuses: usual status, current weekly status, and current daily status. In the usual status approach, the activity status of a person is determined based on a reference period of 1 year, a current weekly status approach for 1 week, and the current daily status for only 1 day.
Sample: A stratified multistage design was adopted for both rounds. The first stage units (FSUs) were the 2001 census villages in the rural sector. The ultimate stage units were households. At the all-India level, in the 61st round, a total of 8,128 villages were surveyed, with 7,469 villages surveyed in the 68th round. These villages were allocated to the states and union territories in proportion to the population as per the census 2001. The number of households surveyed in rural areas in the 68th round was 59,700, with 280,763 persons surveyed.
Survey Instrument: the study is based on unit-level household survey data on the “Employment and Unemployment Situation in India”, conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) from 2011–to 2012 (68th round). Data from the 61st round (2004–2005) are used as a baseline survey to see the impact of the program. NSSO conducts large sample rounds at 5-year intervals, called “quinquennial” rounds, on employment and unemployment covering almost all regions in the country. As the 68th round asks if any household member enrolled or participated in MGNREGS during the last year, it allows the examination of the impact of the program. Both the 61st and 68th round surveys covered the whole of India. The fieldwork of both rounds was for 1 year, between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 for the 61st round, and 1 July 2011 and 30 June 2012 for the 68th round. The survey period was divided into four sub-rounds, every 3 months, the first sub-ground from July to September, the second from October to December, and so on. In each round, an equal number of sample villages (FSUs) were allotted for a survey, to ensure a uniform spread of FSUs over the entire survey period.

The incidence of drop-out is negatively associated with peak agricultural season for boys, but it is positively associated with girls. MGNREGS is adversely associated with child-labor use. The likelihood of child labour is higher in MGNREGS-participating households compared to non-participating households, and this was also evidenced in human capital formation in program-participating households. For both boys and girls, the incidence of drop-out is higher in program-participating households than in non-participating households.

Child Labour

Households

National

The intervention is adversely associated with child-labour use. The likelihood of child labour is higher in MGNREGS-participating households compared to non-participating households, and this was also evidenced in human capital formation in program-participating households. For both boys and girls, the incidence of drop-out is higher in program-participating households than in non-participating households.

The incidence of drop-out is negatively associated with peak agricultural season for boys, but it is positively associated with girls.

N. A.