Child Labor Bans, Employment, and School Attendance: Evidence from Changes in the Minimum Working Age

Mireille Kozhaya and Fernanda Martínez Flores
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Mireille Kozhaya: University of Wuppertal

No 15144, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of a unique child labor ban regulation on employment and school enrollment. The ban implemented in Mexico in 2015, increased the minimum working age from 14 to 15, introduced restrictions to employ underage individuals, and imposed penalties for the violation of the law. Our identification strategy relies on a DiD approach that exploits the date of birth as a natural cutoff to assign individuals into treatment and control groups. The ban led to a decrease in the probability to work by 1.2 percentage points and an increase in the probability of being enrolled in school by 2.2 percentage points for the treatment group. These results are driven by a reduction in employment in paid activities, and in the secondary and tertiary sectors. The effects are persistent several years after the ban.

Keywords: ban; child labor; minimum working age; schooling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I38 J22 J23 J82 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 51 pages
Date: 2022-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-lma and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published - published online in: World Bank Economic Review , 15 May 2024

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Working Paper: Child labor bans, employment, and school attendance: Evidence from changes in the minimum working age (2022)
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