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Does minimum age of employment regulation reduce child labor?

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  • Eric V. Edmonds

    (Dartmouth College and NBER, USA, and IZA, Germany)

Abstract

Regulation of the minimum age of employment is the dominant tool used to combat child labor globally. If enforced, these regulations can change the types of work in which children participate, but minimum age regulations are not a useful tool to promote education. Despite their nearly universal adoption, recent research for 59 developing countries finds little evidence that these regulations influence child time allocation in a meaningful way. Going forward, coordinating compulsory schooling laws and minimum age of employment regulations may help maximize the joint influence of these regulations on child time allocation, but these regulations should not be the focus of the global fight against child labor.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric V. Edmonds, 2014. "Does minimum age of employment regulation reduce child labor?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-73, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izawol:journl:y:2014:n:73
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Carol Ann Rogers & Kenneth A. Swinnerton, 2008. "A theory of exploitative child labor," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 60(1), pages 20-41, January.
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    7. Eric V. Edmonds & Maheshwor Shrestha, 2012. "The Impact of Minimum Age of Employment Regulation on Child Labor and Schooling: Evidence from UNICEF MICS Countries," NBER Working Papers 18623, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Margo, Robert A. & Aldrich Finegan, T., 1996. "Compulsory schooling legislation and school attendance in turn-of-the century America: A 'natural experiment' approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 103-110, October.
    9. Eric Edmonds & Maheshwor Shrestha, 2012. "The impact of minimum age of employment regulation on child labor and schooling ," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-28, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Olivier Bargain & Delphine Boutin, 2021. "Minimum Age Regulation and Child Labor: New Evidence from Brazil," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 35(1), pages 234-260.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    child labor; human capital; social protection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J80 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - General
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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