Cynthia B. Lloyd

Children's Schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Fathers, Mothers, and Others

Multinomial logistic regression techniques are used to estimate personal and familial determinants of childrens participation and progress in school in seven sub-Saharan African countries. Data are obtained from Demographic and Health Surveys for Kenya and Tanzania Cameroon and Niger and Malawi Namibia and Zambia. Findings indicate that most 10-14 year olds were currently enrolled in school with the exception of Niger. However few in this age group completed the first four years of primary education. Four conclusions are drawn. 1) Family and household characteristics in particular education of the head and living standard determined whether a child was enrolled and how rapidly the child advanced by grade level. Both factors were important but education of the head appeared to be the most important factor in explaining current enrollment rates and the timing of school entry. Standard of living was associated with the widest differences in attainment of four grade levels. 2) The chances of enrollment and progress in school appeared to be unrelated to the survival of parents. 3) Children benefitted educationally more from female headed households when compared to male headed households at the same resource level. 4) Specific gender differences varied by country. Family and household circumstances did not operate systematically across countries to the advantage of boys or girls. The proportion of children aged 10 years currently attending school who were at the appropriate grade level ranged from 96% in Tanzania to 59% in Malawi. By the age of 14 years the respective proportions were from 56% to 25%. The drop was attributed in part to grade repetition. The proportion who completed grade 4 by age 14 out of the ever-enrolled was 79% in Kenya 74% in Zambia 73% in Tanzania 68% in Cameroon 58% in Namibia 44% in Malawi and 23% in Niger.

Marriage and childbirth as factors in dropping out from school: An analysis of DHS data from sub-Saharan Africa

Leaving school prematurely is often claimed to be among the most negative consequences of early marriage and pregnancy for girls in less developed countries. However, an analysis of the relative frequency with which these events actually occur or are named as reasons for leaving school reveals that, at least in the case of francophone Africa, they explain no more than 20 per cent of dropouts. To the extent that demographic events trump school or family factors as determinants of school-leaving, our data indicate that it is union formation—defined by the DHS as first marriage or cohabitation—rather than childbirth that is more likely to have this effect. ‘Schoolgirl pregnancy’ typically accounts for only between 5 and 10 per cent of girls’ departures from school. Furthermore, the risks of leaving school because of pregnancy or marriage have declined over time with the decline in rates of early marriage and childbearing.

The effects of primary school quality on school dropout among Kenyan girls and boys

This article begins with a broadened framework for the measurement of school quality which includes both the more traditional elements identified in the school-effectiveness literature related to the development of cognitive competencies as well as some additional elements hypothesized by the authors to be important to retention. This framework is then applied empirically using our Kenyan data. Data on patterns of school dropout by sex age and district as well as data on various dimensions of the school environment provide a background for the presentation of the multivariate results. The many methodological issues pertinent to the implementation of our empirical models are addressed fully as part of the presentation of our results.

High Fertility and Children's Schooling in Ghana: Sex Differences in Parental Contributions and Educational Outcomes

This paper explores the linkages at the family level between sustained high fertility and childrens schooling in Ghana, in the context of a constrained economic environment and rising school fees. The unique feature of the paper is its exploration of the operational significance of alternative definitions of “sib size” – the number of “same-mother” siblings and “same-father” siblings – in relation to enrolment, grade attainment, and school drop-out for boys and girls of primary and secondary school age. The analysis is based on the first wave of the Ghana Living Standards Measurement Survey (GLSS) data, collected in 1987–88. The results of the statistical analysis lead to the conclusion that the co-existence of high fertility, rising school costs, and economic reversals is having a negative impact on the education of girls, in terms of drop-out rates and grade attainment. Some of the costs of high fertility are borne by older siblings (particularly girls) rather than by parents, with the result that chil...

Women's Role in Maintaining Households: Family Welfare and Sexual Inequality in Ghana

Over the last 30 years in Ghana, the proportion of households headed by women has increased and the composition of these households has shifted, with a growing percentage of households headed by the divorced and widowed. The paper assesses the implications of these trends for family welfare, and evaluates more broadly the current role of women in the economic maintenance of households with children, using data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey. The consumption levels of household members are highest in households in which women play a primary role in the provision of cash earnings either in partnership with their husbands, or as the primary cash providers. In all types of household, women work, on average, longer hours than men, but the differences between the sexes are greatest when men and women co-reside, and least when they do not. Access to resources from an economically committed male is found to be important to the welfare of female-headed households, which made up roughly 30 per cent of all h...

Children's living arrangements in developing countries

This paper documents the wide variation in living arrangements experienced by children in developing regions using data from 19 Demographic and Health Surveys. Traditionally, researchers and policymakers concerned with child welfare have assumed that, apart from exceptional cases, children live with their mothers, experience childhood together with their siblings, and have access to resources from both biological parents. Data presented in this paper contradict this assumption. The data demonstrate that, in many countries of sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America as opposed to parts of Asia and North Africa, children spend substantial proportions of their childhood years apart from one or both parents and, by extension, apart from at least some of their siblings. The mothers of many of these children do not live with a partner or are in marital circumstances that may attenuate the link between the child and the father. In countries where child fostering is practiced, the likelihood that children will live apart from their mothers is negatively related to their mothers access to the resources of their fathers and other relatives and positively related to the number of younger siblings. The focus of the paper is on four essential elements of childrens living arrangements that influence their access to resources: (1) mother-child co-residence, (2) father-child coresidence, (3) household structure and (4) the number, presence and spacing of siblings. The research suggests that significant proportions of young children, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, benefit from the support provided by family members other than their parents. This support, which involves the coresidence of family members beyond the nuclear unit, can take many forms: the co-residence of three generations within the same household, the inclusion of a single mother and her children as a sub-family within a more complex household, or the exchange of children between kin. Surprisingly, despite enormous variations between countries in current fertility rates (ranging from roughly 2 to 7 births per woman), children in countries as diverse as Thailand and Mali spend their childhood with no more than 2 to 3 children on average sharing the same household. Thus, childhood as it is experienced in many parts of the developing world has much that is common despite apparent differences and much else that is different despite apparent similarities.

The effect of gender differences in primary school access type and quality on the decision to enroll in rural Pakistan.

The article explores the effect of primary school access, type (public vs. private), and quality on parents’ decision to enroll their children in rural Pakistan using a 1997 survey. The authors find that, for girls, living in a village with an all‐girls’ public school makes a significant difference in the likelihood of enrollment. The quality of the girls’ school is also a significant factor influencing parents’ decision to enroll their girls. Boys’ overall levels of enrollment are unaffected by access and quality; parents, however, are more likely to select private schooling for their boys and girls when a private school is locally available. In contrast to earlier findings for urban Pakistan, we do not find that a greater availability of private school alternatives would significantly increase overall primary school enrollment; instead, it would primarily affect the distribution of enrollment between the private and public sector.

The Contribution of the World Fertility Surveys to an Understanding of The Relationship Between Women's Work and Fertility

A consistent negative association between womens paid work and fertility in developed countries has emerged from many years of research. Results from research in developing countries are more ambiguous, with as many examples of a positive association as of a negative one. Lack of data comparability has often hampered interpretation of results. The World Fertility Surveys (WFS)--undertaken in 40 developing countries between 1974-81, using a common core questionnaire that included numerous questions on womens work--have created a unique opportunity to evaluate this association in a comparative framework. This article reviews and interprets the major findings on the work-fertility relationship from this and other published research on womens work and fertility, and assesses the data limitations. The article concludes with recommendations for the treatment of womens work in the design of future fertility and family planning surveys.

Women's Lives and Rapid Fertility Decline: Some Lessons From Bangladesh and Egypt

The recent experiences of Bangladesh and Egypt show thatfertility can sustain impressive declines even when womens lives remain severely constrained.Since the late 1970s, rural and urban areas in both countries have experienced steadydeclines in fertility, with recent declines in rural Bangladesh similar to those in ruralEgypt, despite lower levels of development and higher rates of poverty. This paperprovides an in-depth exploration of the demographic transition in these two societies andaddresses three basic questions: (1) have measurable improvements in economic opportunities forwomen been a factor in the fertility decline?; (2) can preexisting differences in gender systemsexplain the more rapid fertility decline in Bangladesh, despite the more modest economicachievements?; (3) can the development strategies adopted by the governments ofBangladesh and Egypt, be seen as additional factors in explaining the similar rural fertilitydeclines despite dissimilar economic circumstances? The paper concludes that neither gender systemsnor changes in womens opportunities appear to have contributed to declining fertility.Indeed, low levels of womens autonomy have posed no barrier to fertility decline in eithercountry. However, there is a case to be made that Bangladeshs distinct approach to development,with considerable emphasis on reaching the rural poor and women and a strong reliance onnongovernmental institutions, may have played a part in accelerating the transition in thatenvironment and in helping women to become more immediate beneficiaries of that process.

Adolescent Fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa

The author considers elements of National Research Council reports on adolescent fertility and economic reversals in sub-Saharan Africa. The fertility report published findings drawn from new Demographic and Health Survey data and related literature to note a change in the social context of adolescent childbearing as a result of increasing secondary school enrollments and later ages at marriage. Overall fertility among adolescents is falling in at least some countries although births to the unmarried are increasing as a proportion of total births to adolescents especially in urban areas. The report describes the social incompatibility of school enrollment and pregnancy or motherhood and the expectation that men assume the responsibilities of fatherhood. Relaxed restrictions on the sexual expression of young men have however increased the weight of sexual demands upon adolescent females. The report on economic reversals was based upon limited data. Its working groups therefore focused mainly upon the income effects of economic reversals as they relate to fertility. Overall economic reversals produce declines in income which delay marriage and first birth. The author also notes a study finding that marriage odds seem to respond favorably to short-run improvements in economic conditions with such effects being most apparent in Botswana Senegal and Togo. In closing the need for coordination and collaboration between working groups is stressed. Had working groups for the two reports shared and discussed their respective data and analytic perspectives before formulating and publishing key findings mutual benefits would have accrued.