Human Capital, Child as

This entry considers the ways human capital theory conditions children’s lives and assigns child subjectivities. The main concept in human capital theory originated in the 1960s. It holds that income tends to correlate positively with education and skill levels. High skill levels in society [Page 930]increase economic productivity, improve health, and result in greater social mobility and higher employment. The idea, then, is that education and training should be promoted. Some current proponents of this theory relate it to the early phase of human life and skills formation. They contend that skills formation begins in the womb and progresses in such a way that skills self-productively multiply throughout life.

Those who acquire skills earlier in life have more opportunities to multiply them and thereby become more ...