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The impact of parental death on school outcomes: Longitudinal evidence from South Africa

Demography

Abstract

We analyze longitudinal data from a demographic surveillance area (DSA) in KwaZulu-Natal to examine the impact of parental death on children’s outcomes. The results show 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 maternal orphans’ educations, on average, conditional on enrollment. Moreover, children whose mothers have died appear to be at an educational disadvantage when compared with 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 correlate of poor household socioeconomic status. However, the death of a father between waves of the survey has no significant effect on subsequent asset ownership. Evidence from the South African 2001 Census suggests that the estimated effects of maternal deaths on children’s outcomes in the Africa Centre DSA reflect the reality for orphans throughout South Africa.

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Authors and Affiliations

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Correspondence to Anne Case.

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This work was supported by Well come Trust Grants 065377 and 067181 to the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies. Case gratefully acknowledges funding from the MacArthur Foundation (“Research Network on Poverty and Inequality in Broader Perspective” ) and the National Institute of Aging (Grant R01 AG20275-01). Ardington acknowledges funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Development and the National Institute of Aging (Grant R01 HD045581-01). The analysis is based on data collected through the Africa Centre Demographic Information System. The authors are affiliated with the Population Studies Group of the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies. They have benefited from the ACDIS field and data centre staff under the leadership of the principal investigator, Dr. Kobus Herbst. They wish to thank Angus Deaton, Frances Lund, John Strauss, two referees, and seminar participants at several universities for comments on an earlier version.

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Case, A., Ardington, C. The impact of parental death on school outcomes: Longitudinal evidence from South Africa. Demography 43, 401–420 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2006.0022

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2006.0022

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