Birth Order and Child Labor

Abstract

Birth order has affected household resource allocation decisions in the past in terms of schooling, labor and nutrition. This paper attempts to study in-depth the impact birth order has on the schooling and child labor outcomes in a household. It also looks at how birth order might have a gender specific impact on these outcomes. For this purpose, the bivariate probit model is employed on the sample data given by Punjab MICS 2011. The results of this study imply that both first born male and female children are more likely to work and latest-born male and female children are less likely to go to work and school. Among males, first born males are more likely to go to family and domestic work and latest born males are less likely to go to market and family work as compared to their middle born siblings. Among females, first born females are more likely to go to family and domestic work and latest born females are less likely as compared to their middle born siblings. First-born males and females are also more likely to engage in domestic work exceeding 20 hours per week as compared to their middle born counterparts. In small families (three children), latest born male and female children are less likely to engage in domestic work exceeding 20 hours or more as compared to the middle born children of their gender.