The Impact of Public Employment on Child Labour and School Attendance: Evidence from a Social Protection Programme in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, India

Abstract: To address child labour, research discusses the potential of social protection programmes. This thesis therefore examines the unresolved impact on child labour and children’s school attendance of its household members’ participation in the public employment programme MGNREGS in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, India. By applying the combined difference-in-differences propensity score matching method, it is, however, found that beneficiary children between 11 and 16 years old engage more in paid work when its household members participate in MGNREGS. This applies in particular to beneficiary girls when female household members participate in the programme. Whilst MGNREGS is not found to be an effective tool for reducing the incidence of paid child labour among children in the concerned age range and states, no conclusions can be drawn about the programme’s impact on unpaid child labour and school attendance. Lastly, it is found that the amount of leisure reduces for beneficiary boys when male household members participate in the programme. Overall, with regard to the research objective, it can be relevant to build additional safety nets into the programme and prioritize its combination with other social protection programmes.