Social protection policies on child labour in low-income Ghanaian communities: a gender-sensitive analysis
Anthony Nkrumah Agyabeng, Francis Komla Ganyaglo, Awo Esaah Bempong, Andrews Ayiku, Ummu Markwei, Ernest Abraham MensahPurpose
The study examines the nexus between social protection policies and child labor from a gender-sensitive perspective in Ghana, a developing country context.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a phenomenological lens within the qualitative approach, 23 participants were purposively sampled from even low-income communities across four regions of Ghana for in-depth interviews.
Findings
Results reveal that Ghana's social protection policies mitigated household vulnerabilities to some extent but remain insufficient to prevent child labour, particularly in low-income communities. Evidence across four emerging themes suggests that social protection policies have partial, gendered, and constrained effects, reinforcing rather than transforming household survival strategies.
Research limitations/implications
While the design of the study does not permit statistical generalizability, evidence adduced implies that social protection programmes operate as a partial buffer within conditions of chronic risk, where families rationally balance schooling aspirations against survival imperatives.
Originality/value
This study provides context-specific evidence regarding how social protection policies affect child labour from a gender-sensitivity lens from non-Western country context.