The responsibility for children’s needs falls primarily on their parents, although governments in some high-income countries provide minimal support. People cover their cost of living through earnings from the labor market unless they possess a high level of wealth or capital. Therefore, it is important to understand how parental labor market status impacts children. Studies examined the impact of parental economic status on children from different dimensions, including income (Shea, 2000; Akee et al., 2010), unemployment (Baranowska-Rataj et al., 2023), and entrepreneurship (Oggero et al., 2023). This research examines the implications of parental labor market factors, such as salary, job type, and migration on children.

Discussions with experts and general people suggest that parental labor market status can affect children’s career preferences and human capital, including health and education. I conducted an initial analysis using Bangladesh’s Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2022 data to study the impact on health and education.  

The results suggest that parents’ labor market characteristics have little impact on children’s education and health outcomes. The father’s education has some impact on children’s education but the mother’s education does not. Neither the father’s nor the mother’s characteristics appear to influence whether children have chronic illness. Rather, the impact is more for direct investments in children, such as education expenses and tuition fee waivers. These results are preliminary and more associative than causal. The research is ongoing, and further investigation is needed to confirm causal relationships.

I plan to conduct further analyses using data over a longer period and policy variations. The government of Bangladesh has implemented several policies to improve social security, promote education, and more. For example, to promote girls’ education, the government implemented nationwide stipend programs. Such policy variations will be utilized to confirm causal relationships.

Akee, R. K. Q., Copeland, W. E., Keeler, G., Angold, A., & Costello, E. J. (2010). Parents’ incomes and children’s outcomes: A quasi-experiment using transfer payments from casino profits. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(1), 86–115.

Baranowska-Rataj, A., HÖgberg, B., & Bernardi, L. (2023). Parental unemployment and adolescents’ subjective wellbeing—the moderating role of educational policies. European Sociological Review, 40(2), 276-292.

Oggero, N., Devicienti, F., Rossi, M., & Vannoni, D. (2023). You can’t be what you can’t see: The role of gender in the intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurship. Review of Income and Wealth, 69(3), 755-775.

Shea, J. (2000). Does parents’ money matter? Journal of Public Economics, 77(2), 155-184.