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Children's Own Time Use and its Effect on Skill Formation

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  • Liyousew Gebremedhin Borga

Abstract

Using time-use data from a longitudinal survey (covering Ethiopia, India and Vietnam), the present study examines how the amount of time children spend on different activities impacts their acquisition of cognitive and non-cognitive skills. Modeling the skill formation production function of children and extending the set of inputs to include the child's own time inputs, the study finds that child involvement in work activities such as domestic chores and paid activities are associated with a reduction in both cognitive and non-cognitive achievements. The results imply that there is an indirect adverse effect of child work on skill development through the reduction of hours of study. The results are consistent across all the study countries and for both young children and adolescents. These results are also robust to a variety of specification checks.

Suggested Citation

  • Liyousew Gebremedhin Borga, 2015. "Children's Own Time Use and its Effect on Skill Formation," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp534, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    • Handle: RePEc:cer:papers:wp534
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    2. Jessica L. Arnup & Nicole Black & David W. Johnston, 2022. "Changes in children’s time use during periods of financial hardship," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 1133-1162, July.
    3. Eunho Cha & Joan P. Yoo, 2024. "Children’s Time Use Patterns and Subjective Well-being in Asian Countries," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(1), pages 445-481, February.
    4. Shuhei Kaneko & Haruko Noguchi, 2020. "Impacts of Natural Disaster on Changes in Parental and Children's Time Allocation: Evidence from the Great East Japan Earthquake," Working Papers 2006, Waseda University, Faculty of Political Science and Economics.
    5. Dibyasree Ganguly & Srinivas Goli & Oriel Sullivan, 2023. "Gender, Paid Work, and Mental Health of Adolescents and Young Adults in Resource-Poor Settings of India," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(3), pages 1137-1170, June.
    6. Enrico Fornasiero, 2024. "The Impact of Non-Governmental Organisations on Children’s Wellbeing: Evidence from Ethiopia," Working Papers 2024: 18, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    7. Garcia-Mandicó, Sílvia & Reichert, Arndt & Strupat, Christoph, 2021. "The Social Value of Health Insurance: Results from Ghana," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    8. Jürges, Hendrik & Khanam, Rasheda, 2021. "Adolescents’ time allocation and skill production," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    9. Chang, Grace, 2022. "How is adolescents' time allocation associated with their self-esteem and self-efficacy? Evidence from four developing countries," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115059, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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