The Effect of Child Work on School Enrollment in Egypt

The main objective of this paper is to determine the causal relationship between child work and school enrollment in Egypt while taking into account the simultaneous nature of family (or child) decisions regarding school and work activities. We also assess how a broader definition of work, including domestic work, affects conclusions about the impact of work on schooling for girls.  Finally, we examine how children’s vulnerability to work and lack of schooling relates to characteristics of their parents and households.  We show that child work does not reduce the probability of schooling for boys, but that it does for girls, using either a traditional or broader definition of work.  Although policy measures that succeeded in reducing girls’ work would increase enrollment, it is hard to formulate such measures since most girls work within the confines of their own homes.