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Child Labor, Rainfall Shocks, and Financial Inclusion: Evidence from Rural Households

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  • Bernal, Carolina
  • Vlaicu, Razvan

Abstract

This paper examines how rural households cope with climate change related rainfall shocks by re-allocating childrens time between domestic activities and school attendance. Households affected by an unanticipated rainfall shock face an inter-temporal trade-off between current household income and future potential earnings. Financial inclusion may mitigate or exacerbate the human capital impacts of rainfall shocks depending on whether it relaxes or constrains household budgets. The data come from a three-round panel household survey in rural Colombia collected between 2010-2016. The main findings are that rainfall shocks induce households to choose immediate benefits over long-run investments in education by increasing the incidence of child labor and household chores at the expense of school attendance. Over-indebtedness through pre-existing formal loans reinforces the likelihood that a child works due to rainfall shocks, whereas asset insurance, foreign remittances, and natural disaster aid mitigate or eliminate the shock-induced shift toward domestic activities and away from schooling.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernal, Carolina & Vlaicu, Razvan, 2023. "Child Labor, Rainfall Shocks, and Financial Inclusion: Evidence from Rural Households," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 13008, Inter-American Development Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:idb:brikps:13008
    DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0005058
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Child Labor; human capital; Rainfall shocks; climate change; financial inclusion; Rural households; Schooling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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