PI(s): Smits, Jeroen
Co-PI(s): Longwe, Abiba
Affiliation(s): Raboud University Nijmegen
Institutional Partner(s): NWO/WOTRO
Project Dates:
Start: 2008
End: 2012
Data Source(s): Pooled DHS and Other Surveys
Methods: Multilevel Analysis
Geographic Location(s): Cross-Country Analysis
Description:
To what extent and in which ways does poor RH at the household level negatively influence educational attendance of young children in sub-Saharan Africa? This study sets out to answer this question by analyzing household and district level data on school attendance of 103,000 primary-school aged children living in 287 districts of 30 sub-Saharan African countries. Multilevel analyses reveal substantially decreased attendance rates of boys and girls with short preceding and succeeding birth intervals, with more siblings, with a young sibling present, or with a pregnant mother. These findings stay the same when examining these outcomes after looking at other socioeconomic and demographic household characteristics and health-related context factors. Results show that many effects of reproductive health outcomes depend on the context in which the household is living, thus highlighting the importance of a situation-specific approach.
Research Outputs:
Longwe, Abiba. and Smits, Jeroen. (2012), Family Planning Outcomes and Primary School Attendance in Sub-Saharan Africa. Studies in Family Planning, 43: 127–134. DOI: 10.1111/j.1728-4465.2012.00310.x
Longwe, Abiba. and Smits, Jeroen. (2013) The Impact of Family Planning on Primary School Participation in Sub-national Areas within 25 African Countries. African Journal of Reproductive Health, 17 (2), 23 – 38.
Longwe, Abiba, Smits, Jeroen & de Jong, Eelke. (2013). Number and Spacing of Children and Women’s Employment in Africa (NiCE Working Paper 13-103).
Smits, Jeroen & Longwe, Abiba. (2009). Effects of Reproductive Health Outcomes on Primary School Attendance: A Sub-Saharan Africa Perspective (Nijmegen Center for Economics (NiCE) Working Paper No. 09-116).