Blurred Definitions and Imprecise Indicators: Rethinking Social Assistance for Children’s Work

Sabates-Wheeler, Rachel; Roelen, Keetie; Mitchell, Rebecca and Warmington, Amy (2023). Blurred Definitions and Imprecise Indicators: Rethinking Social Assistance for Children’s Work. In: Sumberg, James and Sabates-Wheeler, Rachel eds. Children’s Work in African Agriculture: The Harmful and the Harmless. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 174–203.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.51952/9781529226072.ch007

URL: https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/display/...

Abstract

This chapter argues that the design and delivery of social assistance does not take adequate account of the nuanced role of work in children’s lives and that current interventions are therefore ill-equipped to tackle children’s harmful work. This argument is developed against a background of increasing evidence that social assistance has the potential to reduce children’s engagement with work but limited understanding of its impact on children’s engagement with harmful work. The chapter reviews a set of evaluations of social assistance schemes, and shows that few studies look beyond prevalence or intensity of work. This results in a substantial knowledge gap about the extent to which, and how, social assistance may reduce harm through work. An alternative way of understanding benefits and harms of children’s work is proposed.