Association of Child Maltreatment with South African Adults\u2019 Wages: Evidence from the Cape Area Panel Study

Xiaodong Zheng,Tabitha Casey,Xiangming Fang,Celia Hsiao,Gary Ganz,Deborah A Fry,Catherine L Ward

doi:10.1186/s13561-018-0206-6

Abstract

Child maltreatment is a prevalent public health problem in both developed and developing countries. While many studies have investigated the relationship between violence against children and health of the victims, little is known about the long term economic consequences of child maltreatment, especially in developing countries. Using data from the Cape Area Panel Study, this paper applies Heckman selection models to investigate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and young adults’ wages in South Africa. The results show that, on average, any experience of physical or emotional abuse during childhood is associated with a later 12% loss of young adults’ wages. In addition, the correlation between physical abuse and economic consequence (14%) is more significant than the relationship between emotional abuse and wages (8%) of young adults; and the higher the frequency of maltreatment, the greater the associations with wages. With respect to gender differences, wage loss due to the experience of childhood maltreatment is larger for females than males. Specifically, males’ wages are more sensitive to childhood emotional abuse, while females’ wages are more likely to be affected by childhood physical abuse. These results emphasize the importance of prioritizing investments in prevention and intervention programs to reduce the prevalence of child maltreatment and to help victims better overcome the long-term negative effect.

Highlights

Child maltreatment remains a prevalent public health problem in both developed and developing countries
Because previous studies indicated that child maltreatment was more detrimental to the health and educational outcomes of girls [34,35,36,37] and frequency of abuse was an important marker of severity [38, 39], which may affect subsequent economic consequences, we investigated the the impact of gender and frequency of maltreatment on the relationship between child maltreatment and young adults’ wages
The results are consistent across the three types of model: on average, compared to an individual who has no history of childhood maltreatment, any experience of child maltreatment is associated with a 12% loss of young adults’ wages

Summary

Introduction

Child maltreatment remains a prevalent public health problem in both developed and developing countries. Across Africa, more than half of children have experienced maltreatment in their lifetime, and more than one fourth report lifetime multiple abuse victimization [2, 3]. There is increasing evidence that child maltreatment is associated with serious consequences for child development, including mental health [4,5,6,7], physical health [8,9,10], and academic, social, and behavioral functioning [11,12,13,14]. About the association between childhood maltreatment and wages of adults, especially in developing countries.

Objectives

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Conclusion