Ending child labour: does conditional cash transfer matter? Evidence from Indonesia

Purpose This study aims to investigate the extent to which the Indonesian conditional cash transfer (CCT), known as the Family Hope Program (FHP), impacts the probability of children engaging in labour activities.Design/methodology/approach This study utilizes data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey in 2014, focussing on periods following the implementation of the FHP. To estimate the impact of FHP on child labour in Indonesia, the authors employ a propensity score matching strategy to balance the characteristics observed between the participant and non-participant groups.Findings The estimates show that FHP has no statistical impact on child labour across all matching techniques. This implies that receiving the CCT does not always help poor households decrease the probability of stopping their children from participating in labour activities.Social implications The conditions applied to the beneficiaries, which only require children to attend school without requiring them to stop working, may not effectively address the issue of child labour. The current structure and design of the FHP need to be re-evaluated and improved to effectively combat child labour.Originality/value Despite numerous studies examining the impact of CCT on child labour which remains inconclusive in Indonesia, this study contributes to the existing literature by considering children participating in labour activities across all types of work without focussing on specific education levels or regions.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-07-2023-0580