Working children and education
Child labour and schooling response to changes in coca production in rural Peru
The effect of cocaine reduction policies on child labour, Peru
Authors:
A. Dammert
Publisher:
Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn, 2007
What impact do coca eradication policies aimed at reducing the production and distribution of cocaine in the Andes have on households? This paper examines the shift in the production of coca leaves from Peru to Colombia in 1995 to analyse the indirect effects of the anti-coca policy on children’s allocation of time.
Main results include that:
- child labour increased by 18 and 40 percent in coca-growing states in 1997 and 2000, respectively
- not only the probability of market work increased, but work hours and domestic work as well
- domestic work increased with higher effects for girls: it increased by 28 percent for girls and 13 percent for boys in coca-growing states in 2000
- hours worked by both girls and boys increased by 2.5 and 2.0 hours in 1997 and 2000, respectively including hours worked engaged in market work and doing household chores
- children in coca-growing states spent 4.5 and 3.6 more hours a week working in 1997 and 2000.
The author highlights that these findings suggest a previously undocumented indirect effect of drug policies on household behaviour.
