Is child labor in waste picking an impediment to children’s schooling? A case study of a suburban slum in Jakarta

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine whether poverty-induced waste picking is a major factor depriving children of educational opportunities. The survey site is a slum area formed by waste pickers around two adjacent final disposal sites in Bantar Gebang, West Java, in the Republic of Indonesia. The study relies on qualitative and quantitative data obtained from 33 field surveys conducted a total of 890 days between February 2010 and March 2020. The results reveal that children engaged in at least seven types of labor. Some children also attended school in addition to their work. The average monthly income was IDR 689,952.8 for children who did not attend school, IDR 854,475.0 during the vacations for children attending school, and IDR 266,222.3 during the school term for children attending school. The income of children who did not attend school accounted for 25% of the household’s income, and the share of the children’s income in the household’s budget was significant. However, households with working children had higher incomes than those without, and it can be said that the children on the survey site did not work specifically because of poverty.