Investigation of Mothers and Child Labor? Decision on Employment: Evidence from Iranian Urban Household

This paper investigated the probability of employment of mothers and children (aged 10–18) in Iranian urban household and the factors which influence them with expansion of neoclassic model. Biprobit model and the Stata Software were used to that end. The sample size includes 6517 Iranian urban households (in 2014) who had children aged 10–18. The data was extracted from the Urban Household National Survey. 46. 4% of the sample are females and 54. 6% are males. 93. 97% of children are unemployed and 6. 03% are employed. The results showed that children do not necessarily drop out of school to work and be employed. An increase in the level of education of parents negatively influences the employment of the children aged 10–18, and the effect of father’s education is more decisive in this regard. Furthermore, the increasing of father’s education reduces the possibility of mother’s employment in this household. The substitution effect showed that mother’s and child’s employment are substitutes, as is father’s employment with mother’s and child’s employment. The wealth effect showed that an increase in household per capita income reduces the possibility of children’s employment and raises the possibility of mother’s employment. Furthermore, the size of the family reduces the possibility of mother’s employment and raises the possibility of children’s employment.