The Family Economy, Child Labor, and Schooling: Evidence from the Early Twentieth-Century South

Abstract

We explore the determinants of employment and school enrollment among black children and white children in North Carolina and South Carolina in 1910. Our analysis situates decisions about children's employment and schooling in the context of the family, the local labor market, and the local educational system. Family resources were an important determinant of children's employment, especially for white children, but labor-market opportunities were the main predictors of the type of employment, given that children worked Net of children's employment status, family resources also affected the likelihood of children's school enrollment. Working in a nonagricultural industry interfered with schooling, whereas working in agriculture did not affect the likelihood of school enrollment. Finally, school enrollment of black children was depressed by a lack of educational opportunities. Racial differences in educational opportunities were a more important determinant of racial inequalities in school enrollment than were racial inequalities in family resources or work opportunities.