Annual Reports
The Region
Why Johnny Can't Work - In Brief
Douglas Clement - Editor, The Region
Published June 1, 2005 | June 2005 issue
Take your child to work?
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Economists have developed a promising new model to explain why nations adopt child labor regulations.
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The model hinges on a trade-off for parents with low work skills. If child labor is forbidden, parental wages increase due to less competition from child workers, but families lose income earned by their children.
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Higher returns to education could motivate new parents to have few children and send them to school; parents who already have children are economically locked into support for child labor. A political majority favoring restrictions will be achieved only gradually, as the numerical balance shifts toward new, smaller families.
Why Johnny Can't Work [Complete article]
