Is Child Labor Harmful? The Impact of Working Earlier in Life on Adult Earnings

B-Tier
Journal: Economic Development & Cultural Change
Year: 2011
Volume: 59
Issue: 2
Pages: 345 - 385

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper explores the question: is working as a child harmful to an individual in terms of adult outcomes in earnings? Although this is an extremely important question, little is known about the effect of child labor on adult outcomes. Estimations of an instrumental variables earnings model on data from Brazil show that child labor has a large negative impact on adult earnings for male children even when controlling for schooling and that the negative impact of starting to work as a child reverses at around ages 12-14.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/657125
Journal Field
Development
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25