Exploring and Evaluating the Conditional Cash Transfer Program on Child Labor: A case study in Pereira city

Abstract

Some developing countries have implemented conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs as a measure for improving human capital, poverty reduction and income inequality. Since 1999, Colombia has implemented a CCT program called Familias en Accion (FA) as one of the most important policies targeting low-income households that have children under 18 years old. Some of its goals are to ensure school attendance of children and health, making the recipients household take their children to school, and also to medical check-ups or control appointments of planned growth and development as conditions of the program.

The purpose of this research is to explore and evaluate the impact of CCT program on child labor in beneficiary households who have more than 3 children under 18 years old. If a household has more than three children under this age, the program allows parents to select any three of them to receive the school subsidy. Thus, those children left by the program may experience a different situation since parents do not have the responsibility of following these conditions to receive the aid, being very feasible that these children get involved in child labor to contribute to household income.

This research is based on qualitative methods implementing interviews to low-income households and children engaged in child labor in Pereira city and interviews to public servants experts in the sector. The main goal of this research is to explore the result of the subsidy and program in terms of how effectively human capital is being formed within the household, and whether or not the program ensures parents awareness on preventing and discouraging child labor. It is important to know if the program really influences the formation human capital through inculcating family values and sense of responsibility upon enrollment and school attendance.

Familias en Accion has been a good approach to alleviate poverty and extreme poverty in Colombia. According to the literature review and the analyzes of the interviews done under this research to heads of households, children and experts, one can conclude that the Colombian government strategy of the CCT programs as anti-poverty policy, seeks improvements on education and nutrition of children of low-income households. Although child labor is not the main purpose for which the program was created, impacts on combating child labor have seen as positive externalities, most in rural areas than urban areas.

To end, as policy directions to suggest, in principle loading multiple challenges in FA program may put in risk the feasibility of achieving the objectives for which it was designed. But, carefully studied and implemented, a new phase of FA considering strong parent´s commitments on combating children engaged in any kind of work and including psychosocial support oriented to promote changes in parent´s attitudes, are some of urgent steps to break this connection of child labor and poverty trap.

As the Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean ?ECLAC- has said, increasing children school attendance do not always involve a reduction in the incidence and intensity of all types of child labor. Therefore the national government should open its eyes and connects probably the biggest tool on march right now ? Familias en Accion- to reduce substantially and decisively the child labor in Colombia.