Compulsory and Voluntary Remittances: Evidence from Child Domestic Workers in Tunisia

Abstract

Based on a survey we conducted among domestic workers in Tunisia, we find that slightly more than half are younger than 18 years old. Most live with their employer and have their wages remitted directly to their parents. We define such remittances as compulsory as opposed to voluntary, and establish that having more young sisters means a higher likelihood of observing compulsory remittances, but that voluntary remittances increase with the number of young brothers. Parents who own some farm assets, or their house, can extract more compulsory remittances from their daughters than other parents. Older domestic workers face lower compulsory remittances, and voluntarily remit less. Finally, we reject the standard tobit model in favour of a type-2 tobit or Gragg's specification.Domestic Workers, Child Labor, Compulsory and Voluntary Remittances, Tunisia.