The hidden costs of automation: does robot adoption affect children's mental health?

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Industrial automation is profoundly transforming the labor market, yet it may also impose hidden costs beyond economic outcomes. In particular, heightened labor market competition caused by robot adoption may create intergenerational costs, such as adverse effects on children's mental health.

Methods

This study combines survey data from the 2012-2020 China Family Panel Studies with robot data from the International Federation of Robotics to investigate the impact of automation on the mental health of Chinese children. To address endogeneity concerns, we construct an instrumental variable for domestic robot adoption using U.S. robot data and employ a two-stage least squares (2SLS) approach.

Results

The findings reveal that a one-standard deviation increase

SUBMITTER: Zou Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12546223 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature