Economic and Cultural Forces in the Child Labour Debate: Evidence from Urban Bangladesh

The relative influence of economic and cultural forces is a key area of debate amongst those exploring the causes of child work, and in wider discourse on household labour deployment. Data from Dhaka slums suggest that household poverty and income stability are important economic determinants of children's work. However, economic forces alone cannot explain child-work deployment. Evidence on the availability of adult household members to replace child contributions, and on gender and age differentials in household labour deployment, point towards the importance of cultural factors. Key cultural determinants of children's work include gender norms, age subordination and the cultural importance of avoiding idleness.