Beneficial “child labor”: The impact of adolescent work on future professional outcomes ^☆

This research was supported by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Sauder School of Business. It was made possible through Statistics Canada providing access to the microlevel data through the Research Data Centres program. The data for this study were accessed at the Inter-University Research Data Centre at the University of British Columbia, with the kind support of Lee Grenon and Cheryl Chunling Fu. We would like to thank Howard Aldrich, Nancy Langton, Claus Rerup, and Martin Schulz for helpful comments on earlier drafts of the paper. All mistakes remain the responsibility of the co-authors.

Abstract

Purpose

Theories of income inequality frequently cite child and adolescent labor as a societal problem. In contrast to such theories, we propose that path dependency coupled with enhancement of human and social capital enables some adolescents who work to find more attractive jobs later in life.

Methodology

Using the longitudinal Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) spanning over 10 years, we find support for a positive relationship between adolescents’ number of work hours and future desirable professional outcomes such as being employed, income, person-organization fit, knowing where to look for a job, and career networking.

Findings

The positive relationship, in many instances, is curvilinear and highlights the downfall of working excessive hours. We also explore whether adolescent work for a stranger or family member leads to different outcomes, and find that working in a family business leads to enhanced later life utilization of career networks as well as better person-organization fit.

Social implications

While we find that adolescent work intensity is linked to positive later life outcomes such as higher income, better fitting jobs, and better career networks, we also find maxima whereby additional hours worked have a diminishing effect on the outcomes. This suggests the need for societal norms and/or laws to avoid excessive adolescent work.

Value of chapter

The findings in this chapter shed light on the role of early life work experiences in future professional outcomes. We show that certain types of adolescent employment can enhance future career prospects, counter to much of the established literature on the detrimental impact of youth labor.

Citation

Houshmand, M., Seidel, M.-D.L. and Ma, D.G. (2014), "Beneficial “child labor”: The impact of adolescent work on future professional outcomes ^☆

This research was supported by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Sauder School of Business. It was made possible through Statistics Canada providing access to the microlevel data through the Research Data Centres program. The data for this study were accessed at the Inter-University Research Data Centre at the University of British Columbia, with the kind support of Lee Grenon and Cheryl Chunling Fu. We would like to thank Howard Aldrich, Nancy Langton, Claus Rerup, and Martin Schulz for helpful comments on earlier drafts of the paper. All mistakes remain the responsibility of the co-authors.

", Adolescent Experiences and Adult Work Outcomes: Connections and Causes (Research in the Sociology of Work, Vol. 25), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 191-220. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0277-283320140000025007