Egypt: The effect of child work on schooling - evidence from Egypt

This paper from the Economic Research Forum (ERF), Egypt includes causal evidence that lower crude rates of school attendance for Egyptian children are not due to limited access to schools but rather to a substantial burden of work. Although some activists argue that all child labour should be abolished, the authors prefer a more nuanced approach which does not assume that all work - whether it is paid or unpaid, labour force or domestic - is good or bad for children and youth. While some work activities of children are unquestionably detrimental to their physical and/or mental well-being, most tasks undertaken by Egyptian 6-14 year olds do not fall clearly in these categories.