Returns to Farm Child Labor in Tanzania

Abstract

In developing countries, the opportunity costs of children's time may significantly hinder universal education. This paper studies one of these opportunity costs: we estimate the agricultural productivity of children aged 10 to 15, with the LSMS-ISA panel survey in Tanzania. Since child labor may be endogenous, we use the panel structure of the data and instrument changes in child labor by the change in the number of children of household members of the relevant age range over time. One day of child work leads to an increase in production value by US $1.43-2.45, depending on specifications. Children enrolled in school work 26 days less than non-enrolled children. Compensating them for the loss in income can be done by monthly payments between US $ 3.1-5.3. We find that girls are far less productive than boys on the farm but this may be explained by the fact that they share their day between different activities.