Child Labor and the Persistence of Inequality: Evidence from the World’s Least Mobile Country

Matias Ciaschi, Mario Negre and Guido Neidhöfer
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Matias Ciaschi: CEDLAS-IIE-FCE-UNLP and CONICET
Mario Negre: The World Bank
Guido Neidhöfer: Türk-Alman Üniversitesi & ZEW Mannheim

CEDLAS, Working Papers from CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata

Abstract: This paper presents comprehensive evidence on intergenerational mobility in Mozambique—the country with the lowest documented level of mobility worldwide—and investigates its relationship with child labor. Using survey data that includes a module on non co-resident adult children, we document a strong link between children’s educational attainment and parental education and household wealth. Interestingly, our findings suggest that child labor perpetuates intergenerational inequality, not merely as a response to income shocks, but mainly due to labor market structures—particularly the complementarity between parental and child labor and the substantial opportunity costs associated with schooling. These findings underscore the need for targeted policies that decouple children’s labor market prospects from those of their parents and enhance awareness of the long-term returns to education.

JEL-codes: D63 I24 J62 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 41 pages
Date: 2026-02
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dls:wpaper:0365

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