Until now, there has been little evidence on the relative importance of these alternative views. Dr Bhalotra's research uncovers strong evidence that child wage work is compelled by household poverty. Data for 2,400 rural households in Pakistan suggest that both boys and girls work towards a target income . If their hourly wage drops, they almost exactly make up the implied loss in income by working longer hours. This contrasts with commonly observed behaviour in richer populations where, having met survival needs, people tend to work less at lower wage rates.
Child work is a fairly widespread phenomenon in low income countries.
In rural Pakistan, a third of the child population is employed on the household farm or enterprise. Wage employment is typically full-time, with average time per week of 44 hours for boys and 34 for girls. The data show clearly that wage work conflicts with schooling. Dr Bhalotra's approach is to study the response of children's hours of work to a change in their hourly wage rates. This is because when the reward of work is smaller, leisure or other activities become more attractive.