IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jintdv/v37y2025i4p938-950.html

Effect of Growing Up Poor on Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence From Indonesia

Author

Listed:
  • Mayang Rizky
  • Daniel Suryadarma
  • Asep Suryahadi

Abstract

We estimate the long‐term impact of child poverty on adult labour market outcomes in Indonesia, a middle‐income country. Our instrumental variable estimation shows that a child who lived in a poor family when aged between eight and 17 years old suffers from an 87% earnings penalty as adults relative to a child who did not grow up in a poor family. The direct effect remains large after we account for a large set of mediators. Depending on the set of mediators that we use, we estimate an earnings penalty of between 85% and 90%. Similarly, we do not find any evidence that receiving various government transfer programs mediates the effect of growing up poor on earnings as adults.

Suggested Citation

  • Mayang Rizky & Daniel Suryadarma & Asep Suryahadi, 2025. "Effect of Growing Up Poor on Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence From Indonesia," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(4), pages 938-950, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:37:y:2025:i:4:p:938-950
    DOI: 10.1002/jid.3993
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3993
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/jid.3993?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arnaud Chevalier & Colm Harmon & Vincent O’ Sullivan & Ian Walker, 2013. "The impact of parental income and education on the schooling of their children," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-22, December.
    2. Gordon B. Dahl & Lance Lochner, 2012. "The Impact of Family Income on Child Achievement: Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(5), pages 1927-1956, August.
    3. Suryahadi, Asep & Suryadarma, Daniel & Sumarto, Sudarno, 2009. "The effects of location and sectoral components of economic growth on poverty: Evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 109-117, May.
    4. Jo Blanden, 2004. "Family Income and Educational Attainment: A Review of Approaches and Evidence for Britain," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 20(2), pages 245-263, Summer.
    5. Katrine V. Løken & Magne Mogstad & Matthew Wiswall, 2012. "What Linear Estimators Miss: The Effects of Family Income on Child Outcomes," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 1-35, April.
    6. Sim, Armand & Suryadarma, Daniel & Suryahadi, Asep, 2017. "The Consequences of Child Market Work on the Growth of Human Capital," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 144-155.
    7. Nur Cahyadi & Rema Hanna & Benjamin A. Olken & Rizal Adi Prima & Elan Satriawan & Ekki Syamsulhakim, 2020. "Cumulative Impacts of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs: Experimental Evidence from Indonesia," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 88-110, November.
    8. Janet Currie, 2009. "Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Socioeconomic Status, Poor Health in Childhood, and Human Capital Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 87-122, March.
    9. Mani, Subha & Mitra, Sophie & Sambamoorthi, Usha, 2018. "Dynamics in health and employment: Evidence from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 297-309.
    10. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2005. "Why the Apple Doesn't Fall Far: Understanding Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 437-449, March.
    11. Timothy J. Bartik, 1991. "Who Benefits from State and Local Economic Development Policies?," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number wbsle.
    12. Stephen P. Jenkins & Christian Schluter, 2002. "The Effect of Family Income during Childhood on Later-life Attainment: Evidence from Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 317, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    13. Asep Suryahadi & Gracia Hadiwidjaja & Sudarno Sumarto, 2012. "Economic growth and poverty reduction in Indonesia before and after the asian financial crisis," Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(2), pages 209-227, August.
    14. Case, Anne & Fertig, Angela & Paxson, Christina, 2005. "The lasting impact of childhood health and circumstance," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 365-389, March.
    15. Asep Suryahadi & Sudarno Sumarto, 2003. "Poverty and Vulnerability in Indonesia Before and After the Economic Crisis," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 45-64, March.
    16. Sungwook Cho & Almas Heshmati, 2015. "What if you had been less fortunate," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(1), pages 20-33, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mayang Rizky & Daniel Suryadarma & Asep Suryahadi, "undated". "Dampak Tumbuh dalam Kemiskinan terhadap Hasil Pasar Tenaga Kerja: Bukti dari Indonesia," Working Papers 3540, Communications Section.
    2. Lundborg, Petter & Nilsson, Anton & Rooth, Dan-Olof, 2012. "Parental Education and Offspring Outcomes: Evidence from the Swedish Compulsory Schooling Reform," IZA Discussion Papers 6570, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Mathias Huebener, 2025. "The Effects of Education on Health: An Intergenerational Perspective," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 60(3), pages 743-779.
    4. Ferguson, Neil T. N. & Michaelsen, Maren M., 2013. "The Legacy of Conflict – Regional Deprivation and School Performance in Northern Ireland," Ruhr Economic Papers 419, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    5. Gabriele Doblhammer & Gerard J van den Berg & Thomas Fritze, 2013. "Economic Conditions at the Time of Birth and Cognitive Abilities Late in Life: Evidence from Ten European Countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(9), pages 1-12, September.
    6. Nicholas W Papageorge & Kevin Thom, 2020. "Genes, Education, and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(3), pages 1351-1399.
    7. Arnaud Chevalier & Colm Harmon & Vincent O'Sullivan & Ian Walker, 2011. "The Impact of Parental Earnings and Education on the Schooling of Children," Working Papers 201112, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    8. Laura M. Crispin & Michael Kofoed, 2019. "Does Time To Work Limit Time To Play?: Estimating A Time Allocation Model For High School Students By Household Socioeconomic Status," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(3), pages 524-544, July.
    9. Wang, Weidong & Dong, Yongqing & Liu, Xiaohong & Bai, Yunli & Zhang, Linxiu, 2020. "The effect of parents’ education on the academic and non-cognitive outcomes of their children: Evidence from China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    10. Mari, Gabriele & Keizer, Renske, 2020. "Families of Austerity: Welfare Cuts and Family Stress in Britain," SocArXiv vdej8, Center for Open Science.
    11. Huebener, Mathias & Kuehnle, Daniel & Spiess, C. Katharina, 2019. "Parental leave policies and socio-economic gaps in child development: Evidence from a substantial benefit reform using administrative data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    12. Camargo, Braz & Stein, Guilherme, 2022. "Credit constraints and human capital policies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    13. Kerris Cooper & Kitty Stewart, 2021. "Does Household Income Affect children’s Outcomes? A Systematic Review of the Evidence," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(3), pages 981-1005, June.
    14. repec:esx:essedp:726 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Patricia Apps & Ray Rees, 2018. "Optimal family taxation and income inequality," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(5), pages 1093-1128, October.
    16. Johnston, David W. & Schurer, Stefanie & Shields, Michael A., 2011. "Evidence on the Long Shadow of Poor Mental Health across Three Generations," IZA Discussion Papers 6014, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Ding, Xiaozhou & Song, Yaxiang, 2025. "Maternal education and early childhood outcomes in China," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    18. Leandro Carvalho, 2012. "Childhood Circumstances and the Intergenerational Transmission of Socioeconomic Status," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(3), pages 913-938, August.
    19. Dev, Pritha & Mberu, Blessing & Pongou, Roland, 2013. "Communitarianism, Oppositional Cultures, and Human Capital Contagion: Theory and Evidence from Formal versus Koranic Education," MPRA Paper 46234, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Apr 2013.
    20. Schurer, Stefanie & Trajkovski, Kristian & Hariharan, Tara, 2019. "Understanding the mechanisms through which adverse childhood experiences affect lifetime economic outcomes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    21. Cooper, Kerris & Stewart, Kitty, 2020. "Does household income affect children’s outcomes? A systematic review of the evidence," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 107029, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:37:y:2025:i:4:p:938-950. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/5102/home .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.