Saleh Alkafri

Child Labor and Schooling: a Study Case from Occupied Palestinian Territory Saleh Alkafri

The objective of this thesis is to study the determinants that make Palestinian children decide whether to choose schooling, working or both. In addition, this thesis aims at studying the impact of the Israeli aggression (since October 2000- Second Alaqsa Intifada) on children as well as the children?s decision to take one or more of the above mentioned options. In this thesis two approaches are used to estimate the determinants of child labor and schooling, the first one is the sequential-response model method, and the second is probit model. In each case, the probit method to assess the model for each decision is used. The Quarterly Labor Force Survey was used for the first model and the Child Labor Survey 2004 was used for the second model. Results show a negative effect in the children?s growth because of the Israeli repression against the Palestinian people and the intensity in the risks that the children take in their attempt to help their families earn their living, especially after the increase in the poverty and unemployment lately. The increases in the probability for the boys to go to work and for the girls to leave school are among the indications.