From what I remember form my history of Finland classes, the 19th/early 20th century state project to build a compulsory school system met some not insignificant opposition from parents. They liked having the kids working instead going to school, especially in agrarian households.
Now, I don’t want to get into debate whether schooling is useful or not (and for whom, and for what purpose, and if the usefulness has changed over time), but there is something illustrative in the opposition: children rarely are independent agents to the extent adults are. If the incentives are set in that way, the parents will prefer to make choices about their children labor that result in more resources for the household/family unit (charitable interpretation) or for themselves (not so charitable). Number of children in the family also affects the calculus. (One kid, it makes sense to invest in their career; ten kids, and the investment was in the number.)
Seconded. If a child going to school is better for the child but a child working in a sweatshop is better for the parents, some children are going to end up in sweatshops.
From what I remember form my history of Finland classes, the 19th/early 20th century state project to build a compulsory school system met some not insignificant opposition from parents. They liked having the kids working instead going to school, especially in agrarian households.
Now, I don’t want to get into debate whether schooling is useful or not (and for whom, and for what purpose, and if the usefulness has changed over time), but there is something illustrative in the opposition: children rarely are independent agents to the extent adults are. If the incentives are set in that way, the parents will prefer to make choices about their children labor that result in more resources for the household/family unit (charitable interpretation) or for themselves (not so charitable). Number of children in the family also affects the calculus. (One kid, it makes sense to invest in their career; ten kids, and the investment was in the number.)
Seconded. If a child going to school is better for the child but a child working in a sweatshop is better for the parents, some children are going to end up in sweatshops.