Abstract

CERVINI, Rubén Alberto. Child Labor and School Achievement in Latin America -The SERCE data. REDIE [online]. 2015, vol.17, n.2, pp.130-146. ISSN 1607-4041.

In Latin America, a significant percentage of students in primary school engage in non-school work in different locations and intensities. Based on the SERCE data, this article uses multi-level bivariate models to determine the associations between location and intensity of child labor, and student performance in math and reading tests at the end of primary school. It also analyzes the randomness of such associations at each nesting level (country, school and student). Even after controlling for exogenous factors, the child's work have a negative effect on student learning and the intensity of this effect varies between schools and countries, indicating differences in the degree of equity regarding child's labor.

Keywords : Child labor; school achievement; primary education; Latin America; multilevel analysis.