PMMA-12769 The Impact of Child and Youth Labor on his/her Performance in School

Abstract

In this study we analyze the impact of domestic and market child labor on learning using Prova Brazil census data from 2007 and 2011. To do that, we created a large panel dataset with students in 5th and 9th Grades. To measure the impact of children working in the labor market and/or in their households on Portuguese and Mathematics test scores, we estimated fixed effect models. An instrumental variable approach, proposed by Lewbel, was applied to the models to control for the endogeneity of child labor. Possible attrition bias was taken into account through inverse probability weights. Results show that the work performed by children either in the household, or in the labor market was detrimental to their academic performance, with working only in the labor market showing the largest impact for both girls and boys, followed by working both in the market and inside the house, and by working in the house alone. The largest impact was for 5th Grade girls who suffered a reduction of 19% in their Portuguese test scores when they worked only in the labor market. The largest impact for boys was a reduction of 14% in their 5th Grade Portuguese test scores when they worked only in the labor market.


Members

Project leader: Ana Lucia Kassouf

Project researchers: Ida Ono | Marcos Garcias | Camila Rossi

Scientific mentors: Luca Tiberti


Journal publication

Authors Co-Authors Title of paper Title of Economic Review Bibliographic references
Ana Lucia Kassouf Luca Tiberti, Marcos Garcias Evidence of the Impact of Children’s Household Chores and Market Labor on Learning from School Census Data in Brazil Journal of Development Studies

Volume 56
Issue 11
2020
pp. 2097-2112

Ana Lucia Kassouf Child labour and children’s right to a better life The Lancet: Child & Adolescent Health

Volume 3, Issue 12,
December 2019
pp 845-847


Working Papers

Title Modified Size Comments Recommendations
Evidence of the impact of children´s domestic and market labor on learning from school census data in Brazil 2016-12-28 5078.81KB 0 0

Policy Briefs

Title Modified Size Comments Recommendations
The impact of child and youth work on school performance in Brazil 2017-01-18 368.93kB 0 0

Final report

Title Modified Size Comments Recommendations
2016-08-17 810.69KB 0 0

Proposal

Title Modified Size Comments Recommendations
2015-04-30 561.14KB 0 0

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