The impact of parental death on school enrolment and achievement: Longitudinal evidence from South Africa

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dc.creatorCase, Anne
dc.creatorArdington, Cally
dc.date2013-10-10T19:06:54Z
dc.date2013-10-10T19:06:54Z
dc.date2004-12
dc.date.accessioned2015-05-28T10:06:27Z
dc.date.available2015-05-28T10:06:27Z
dc.date.issued2015-05-28
dc.descriptionWe analyse longitudinal data from a demographic surveillance area (DSA) in KwaZulu-Natal, to examine the impact of parental death on children's outcomes. We find significant differences in the impact of mothers' and fathers' deaths. The loss of a child's mother is a strong predictor of poor schooling outcomes. Maternal orphans are significantly less likely to be enrolled in school, and have completed significantly fewer years of schooling, conditional on age, than children whose mothers are alive. Less money is spent on their educations on average, conditional on enrolment. Moreover, children whose mothers have died appear to be at an educational disadvantage when compared to non-orphaned children with whom they live. We use the timing of mothers' deaths relative to children's educational shortfalls to argue that mothers' deaths have a causal effect on children's educations. The loss of a child's father is a significant predictor of household socioeconomic status. Children whose fathers have died live in significantly poorer households, measured on a number of dimensions. However, households in which fathers died were poor prior to fathers' deaths. The death of a father between waves of the survey has no significant effect on subsequent household economic status. While the loss of a father is correlated with poorer educational outcomes, this correlation arises because a father's death is a marker that the household is poor. Evidence from the South African 2001 Census suggests that the estimated effects of maternal deaths on children's school attendance and attainment in the Africa Centre DSA reflect the reality for orphans throughout South Africa.
dc.descriptionAnalysis is based on data collected through the Africa Centre Demographic Information System. Authors are affiliated with the Population Studies Group of the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies. We have benefited from the ACDIS field and data centre staff under the leadership of the principal investigator, Dr. Kobus Herbst. We thank Angus Deaton and Frances Lund for comments on an earlier draft. Case gratefully acknowledges funding from the MacArthur Foundation (“Research Network on Poverty and Inequality in Broader Perspective”) and the National Institute of Aging R01 AG20275-01.
dc.identifier1-77011-026-7
dc.identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/11090/654
dc.identifier.ris TY - Working Paper DA - 2015-05-28 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - HIV/AIDS KW - Fathers KW - Parental Death KW - Schooling KW - Mothers KW - Longitudinal data KW - KwaZulu-Natal KW - Children KW - Education KW - Poverty KW - Orphans LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - The impact of parental death on school enrolment and achievement: Longitudinal evidence from South Africa TI - The impact of parental death on school enrolment and achievement: Longitudinal evidence from South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11090/654 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11090/654
dc.languageen
dc.publisherCSSR and SALDRU
dc.publisher.departmentSALDRUen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Commerceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.relationCSSR/SALDRU Working Paper;97
dc.subjectHIV/AIDS
dc.subjectFathers
dc.subjectParental Death
dc.subjectSchooling
dc.subjectMothers
dc.subjectLongitudinal data
dc.subjectKwaZulu-Natal
dc.subjectChildren
dc.subjectEducation
dc.subjectPoverty
dc.subjectOrphans
dc.titleThe impact of parental death on school enrolment and achievement: Longitudinal evidence from South Africa
dc.typeWorking Paper
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceWorking Paperen_ZA
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