The Impact of Child Work on Cognitive Development: Results from Four Low to Middle Income Countries

Michael Keane (), Sonya Krutikova () and Timothy Neal
Additional contact information
Sonya Krutikova: Institute for Fiscal Studies, UK

No 2020-14, Discussion Papers from School of Economics, The University of New South Wales

Abstract: We study the impact of child work on cognitive development in four Low- and Middle-Income Countries. We advance the literature by using cognitive test scores collected regardless of school attendance. We also address a key gap in the literature by controlling for children’s complete time allocation budget. This allows us to estimate effects of different types of work, like chores and market/farm work, relative to specific alternative time-uses, like school or study or play/leisure. Our results show child work is more detrimental to child development to the extent that it crowds out school/study time rather than leisure. We also show the adverse effect of time spent on domestic chores is similar to time spent on market and farm work, provided they both crowd out school/study time. Thus, policies to enhance child development should target a shift from all forms of work toward educational activities.

Keywords: Child labor; Child development; Education; Time use; Item response theory; Value added models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I25 J13 J24 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 54 pages
Date: 2020-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-lma and nep-neu
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The impact of child work on cognitive development: results from four low to middle income countries (2020)
Working Paper: The impact of child work on cognitive development: results from four Low to Middle Income countries (2018)
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