Association of Child Maltreatment with South African Adults’ Wages: Evidence from the Cape Area Panel Study

Health Economics Review

Xiaodong Zheng¹  Xiangming Fang¹  Gary Ganz²  Catherine L. Ward²  Deborah A. Fry³  Tabitha Casey³  Celia Hsiao⁴ 

[1] College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University;Department of Psychology, University of Cape Town;Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh;Save the Children South Africa;

关键词: Child maltreatment;    Physical abuse;    Emotional abuse;    Wages;    Heckman selection model;    South Africa;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13561-018-0206-6

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Child maltreatment is a prevalent public health problem in both developed and developing countries. While many studies have investigated the relationship between violence against children and health of the victims, little is known about the long term economic consequences of child maltreatment, especially in developing countries. Using data from the Cape Area Panel Study, this paper applies Heckman selection models to investigate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and young adults’ wages in South Africa. The results show that, on average, any experience of physical or emotional abuse during childhood is associated with a later 12% loss of young adults’ wages. In addition, the correlation between physical abuse and economic consequence (14%) is more significant than the relationship between emotional abuse and wages (8%) of young adults; and the higher the frequency of maltreatment, the greater the associations with wages. With respect to gender differences, wage loss due to the experience of childhood maltreatment is larger for females than males. Specifically, males’ wages are more sensitive to childhood emotional abuse, while females’ wages are more likely to be affected by childhood physical abuse. These results emphasize the importance of prioritizing investments in prevention and intervention programs to reduce the prevalence of child maltreatment and to help victims better overcome the long-term negative effect.

【 授权许可】

Unknown