Full Citation
Title: Long Run Outcomes of Child Labor
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2015
ISBN:
ISSN:
DOI:
NSFID:
PMCID:
PMID:
Abstract: In this paper I estimate the long term individual effect of child labor using a linked census sample from 1900 and 1910 to 1940. The sample consists of over 730,000 males from the US birth cohorts of 1884 to 1904. To solve the fundamental identification problem that starting work later implies higher school achievement under compulsory education laws, I use a difference in difference strategy to exploit both changes in minimum working age laws and compulsory school start ages across 14 states. I find that the effect of starting work a year earlier - controlling for missed school - is an increase of $8 of annual income in 1940. While modest, this effect is roughly the same as the marginal benefit of an extra year of school controlling for age of allowed labor market entry. This implies that families during this time period were likely optimally allocating the time of work eligible children between work and school. To conclude, I discuss the implications of this research for modern policy design aimed at eradicating child labor in developing countries. In particular, modern policy must account for the benefits of work to children if they intend to improve the welfare of those children.
Url: http://sites.northwestern.edu/slc890/files/2015/09/Download-Paper-PDF-1i553y7.pdf
User Submitted?: No
Authors: Chapman, Stephanie
Publisher: Northwestern University
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Family and Marriage, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Poverty and Welfare
Countries: