The Determinants of Child Labor in Urban Turkey

The main challenge tackled by this study is to estimate a structural equation for children’s employment as a function of parental and own wages, which are assumed to be simultaneously determined with the child’s employment status. The results indicate that employment of children is responsive to own and paternal wages but not to maternal wages. However, maternal education exerts an appreciable negative effect particularly on girl child’s employment. Unearned income is also found to negatively affect child labor. The data further indicate that children from poorer families stand at a higher risk of employment.