Armed conflict and child labor : evidence from Iraq

Abstract EN

This paper examines the relationship between armed conflict intensity and child labor using household level data from Iraq and taking advantage of a quasi-experimental setup.

Armed conflict intensity is measured as the number of deaths related to conflict and child labor is separated by type of work: economic and household.

After controlling for individual and household characteristics that determine child labor, we find that armed conflict intensity is associated with a higher likelihood of economic child labor, but is not associated with changes in household labor.

These results provide further evidence of the long-term costs of war on households.