Work

Does Child Labor Decline with Improving Economic Status?

Year: 2005

Type: article

Abstract: From 1993 to 1997, GDP per capita in Vietnam grew by between 6 and 7 percent annually.Child labor declined by 28 percent over this period.Using a simple, nonparametric decomposition, I investigate the relationship between improvements in per capita expenditure and child labor with a panel dataset of Vietnamese households that spans this episode of growth.I find that improvements in per capita expenditure can explain 80 percent of the decline in child labor that occurs in households whose expenditures improve enough to move out of poverty.This finding suggests a previously undocumented role for economic growth in the amelioration of child labor.

Source: The Journal of Human Resources

DOI: 10.3368/jhr.xl.1.77

Author: Eric V. Edmonds

Institutions: Dartmouth College, National Bureau of Economic Research, IZA - Institute of Labor Economics

Language: English

Topic: Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare

Subfield: Development

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, No poverty

Open Access status: bronze

OpenAlex ID: W1900667469