Despite a significant improvement in school attendance Brazil continues to lag behind other Latin American countries in terms of educational outcomes. While full time school attendance is compulsory for children aged 6 to 14 in Brazil, the 2014 national household survey indicated that over three million children still divide their time between school and work. A team of local PEP researchers set out to measure the impact of child work on learning outcomes to better understand the consequences of children combining work and study. Their analysis indicates that working, both at home or in the labor market, is detrimental to children’s academic performance and that younger (5th grade) children experience a greater negative impact than older (9th grade) children when combining work and studies.
Find out more about the research methods, findings and policy recommendations in the following PEP publications:
