This site is not fully supported by Internet Explorer. To fully enjoy this website, please use an alternative browser

Publication Information

Michael Keane, Sonya Krutikova and Timothy Neal
Children's work and time-use
Working paper
Vietnam
The impact of child work on cognitive development: results from four Low to Middle Income countries
Summary

The authors study the relationship between child work and cognitive development in the four Young Lives countries. They address a key weakness in the literature by including children’s full time-use vector in the analysis, which leads to different findings from previous studies which do not distinguish between alternative counter-factual activities. They find child work is only detrimental if it crowds out school/study time rather than leisure. Furthermore, the marginal effects of substituting domestic chores or economic activities for school/study time are similar. Thus, policies to enhance child development should target a shift from all forms of work toward educational activities. 

The impact of child work on cognitive development: results from four Low to Middle Income countries
Summary

The authors study the relationship between child work and cognitive development in the four Young Lives countries. They address a key weakness in the literature by including children’s full time-use vector in the analysis, which leads to different findings from previous studies which do not distinguish between alternative counter-factual activities. They find child work is only detrimental if it crowds out school/study time rather than leisure. Furthermore, the marginal effects of substituting domestic chores or economic activities for school/study time are similar. Thus, policies to enhance child development should target a shift from all forms of work toward educational activities. 

Publication Information

Michael Keane, Sonya Krutikova and Timothy Neal
Children's work and time-use
Working paper
Vietnam