The links between child protection and employment and growth,

 

 Dr Josiah Kaplan and Dr Nicola Jones of the Overseas Development Institute, 

28 May 2013

Economic growth has the potential to free children from the worst forms of exploitation and violence, strengthen the reach and effectiveness of child protection services, and increase opportunities for human capital formation later in life. Economic growth could, in turn, be enhanced by improvements in child protection, as gaps in children’s education, nutrition, health and psychosocial development resulting from child protection deficits severely diminish individuals’ later productive capacities as adults, while increasing the subsequent cost of social services. At the same time, however, we recognise that economic growth alone is an insufficient indicator of children’s well-being, particularly when such growth occurs without equitable and inclusive social development for children. In periods of rapid growth and development in particular, new opportunities may bring new threats to children’s protection or exacerbate existing threats – a point that is far too often overlooked in discussions of pro-poor growth.

This report emphasises the value of integrating a life cycle approach into the conceptualisation of inclusive growth and employment whereby childhood is considered as a time for learning and development, laying the foundations for future social and economic well-being. Children need to be supported during these critical periods of learning and development and protected from labour pressures, violence, neglect, and exploitation, within the home and in all other areas of their lives.

Read other papers in this inter-agency series, written for the UN's thematic consultations on the post-MDG framework.
• Why child protection matters (series overview)
• The links between child protection and equity
• The links between child protection and health and survival
• The links between child protection and good governance
• The links between child protection and employment and growth
• The links between child protection and disasters, conflict and fragility

http://www.familyforeverychild.org/knowledge-centre/links-between-child-protection-and-employment-and-growth