Emerging Asia’s low-income economies have acquired a ticket out of severe poverty by enlisting their blue-collar workers in the global production system. Aggregate incomes have risen, and poverty and deprivation have fallen in dramatic fashion. However, there is increasing evidence that dynamic job growth for less-skilled workers is depressing returns on educational investments and impeding improvements in school attainment. The lure of the labor market may offset increased household capacity to support and sustain children’s schooling, especially among poorer households. We examine evidence on these trends and consider consequences of lower rates of educational development for individuals, households, and the aggregate economy.

The Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University (ANU) and the Asian Vision Institute (AVI) are hosts of this online seminar under the Food Insecurity and Inequality Program supervised by Professor Budy. P. Resosudarmo and supported by the Australia-ASEAN Council. The seminar is also in cooperation with Forum Kajian Pembagunan in Indonesia and the ANU Indonesia Project and ANU Poverty and Inequality Research Centre (PIRC).

Speaker:  Professor Ian Coxhead (University of Wisconsin – Madison) 

Friday, 8 October at 09.00-10.30am Phnom Penh/Jakarta (GMT+7); 13.00-14.30 Canberra/Sydney (GMT+11)

Participate via Zoom (registration required): https://bit.ly/SEAeconomy3
or via YouTube (no registration required) bit.ly/fkp-live

Photo by Chetan Hireholi on Unsplash