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No. 78, 1995 Lloyd, Cynthia B. and Ann K. Blanc. "Children's schooling in sub-Saharan Africa: The role of fathers, mothers, and others," Policy Research Division Working Paper no. 78. New York: Population Council. Abstract This paper examines the determinants of children's enrollment and grade four completion—one of UNICEF's key indicators of social progress—in seven countries of sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the role of parents and other household members in providing children with residential and educational support. While in most of these countries a substantial majority of 10–14-year-old children are currently enrolled in school, many fewer children by this age have attained a minimum of a fourth grade education, primarily due to late ages of entry into primary school and slow progress from grade to grade. The findings reveal that the resources of a child's residential household—in particular the education of the household head and the household standard of living—are determining factors in explaining variations among children in these aspects of schooling. By contrast, a child's biological parents appear to play a less critical role, as demonstrated by comparing the outcomes of orphans with the outcomes of children whose parents are still living. Furthermore, children living in female-headed households have better school outcomes than children living in male-headed households, when households with similar resources are compared. The results of this investigation further reveal that family support systems do not operate systematically across countries to the benefit of boys relative to girls. For example, gains in girls' enrollment and educational attainment are slightly greater than gains for boys in female-headed households. Gains for boys in enrollment, on the other hand, are typically slightly greater than gains for girls in higher-income households. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
