The Impact of Public Works Programme on Child Labour in Ethiopia

This study evaluates Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme, a public works scheme that provides employment to poor households to build assets and resilience. The researchers compared children in beneficiary households with those in non-beneficiary households and found that children whose families participated in the programme were significantly less likely to engage in child labour. The findings suggest that well-targeted social safety net programmes can reduce child labour even when child welfare is not their primary objective.

Key points

• Children in programme beneficiary households were significantly less likely to be involved in child labour than children in non-beneficiary households
• The Productive Safety Net Programme operates through employment in public projects rather than direct cash transfers
• The study used child fixed effects estimation methods for analysis
• Social safety net programmes not specifically designed to address child labour can still be effective in reducing it if well targeted
• Poverty and income shocks are identified as fundamental causes of child labour that the programme addresses

Limitations

The document does not specify the magnitude of the effect size, sample size, or duration of follow-up. The paper does not clearly explain the selection criteria for 'well targeted' programmes or provide details about implementation quality across different regions.