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Orphans in Africa

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Author Info
Anne Case
Christina Paxson
Joseph Ableidinger

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Abstract

We examine the impact of orphanage on the living arrangements and school enrollment of children in Sub-Saharan Africa, using data from 19 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in 10 countries between 1992 and 2000. We find that orphans in Africa on average live in poorer households than non-orphans, and are significantly less likely than non-orphans to be enrolled in school. However, orphans' lower school enrollment is not explained by their poverty: orphans are equally less likely to be enrolled in school relative both to non-orphans as a group and to the non-orphans with whom they live. Consistent with the predictions of Hamilton's Rule, we find that outcomes for orphans depend largely on the degree of relatedness of the orphan to the household head. Children living in households headed by non-parental relatives fare systematically worse than those living with parental heads, and those living in households headed by nonrelatives fare worse still. Much of the gap between the schooling of orphans and non-orphans is explained by the greater tendency of orphans to live with more distant relatives or unrelated caregivers.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 9213.

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Date of creation: Sep 2002
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:9213

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I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior

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  1. Case, Anne & Paxson, Christina, 2001. "Mothers and others: who invests in children's health?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 301-328, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Case, Anne & Lin, I-Fen & McLanahan, Sara, 2000. "How Hungry Is the Selfish Gene?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(466), pages 781-804, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Jack, William & Lewis, Maureen, 2009. "Health investments and economic growth : macroeconomic evidence and microeconomic foundations," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4877, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. Richard Akresh, 2004. "Adjusting Household Structure: School Enrollment Impacts of Child Fostering in Burkina Faso," Working Papers 897, Economic Growth Center, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Marcel Fafchamps & Jackline Wahba, 2006. "Child Labor, Urban Proximity and Household Composition," IZA Discussion Papers 1966, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  4. Nkamleu, Guy Blaise, 2006. "Poverty and Child Farm Labor in Africa: Wealth Paradox or bad Orthodoxy," MPRA Paper 15105, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  5. Francesca Francavilla & Gianna Claudia Giannelli, 2007. "The Relation between Child Labour and Mothers’ Work: The Case of India," IZA Discussion Papers 3099, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  6. de Walque, Damien, 2005. "Parental education and children's schooling outcomes : is the effect nature, nurture, or both? evidence from recomposed families in Rwanda," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3483, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  7. David Bishai & Heena Brahmbhatt & Ron Gray & Godfrey Kigozi & David Serwadda & Nelson Sewankambo & El Daw Suliman & Fred Wabwire-Mangen & Maria Wawer, 2003. "Does biological relatedness affect child survival?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 8(9), pages 261-278, May. [Downloadable!]
  8. Clive Bell & Hans Gersbach, 2006. "Growth and Enduring Epidemic Diseases," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Takashi Yamano & T.S. Jayne, 2004. "Working-Age Adult Mortality and Primary School Attendance in Rural Kenya," International Development Collaborative Working Papers KE-TEGEMEO-WP-11, Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Papa Seck, 2005. "Do Parents Favor their Biological Offspring over Adopted Orphans? Theory and Evidence from Tanzania," Hunter College Department of Economics Working Papers 409, Hunter College: Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  11. Paul Bennell, 2005. "The Impact of the AIDS Epidemic on the Schooling of Orphans and Other Directly Affected Children in Sub-Saharan Africa," The Journal of Development Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 467-488, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Michael Grimm & Denis Cogneau, 2004. "AIDS and income distribution in Africa. A micro-simulation study for Cˆote d’Ivoire," Labor and Demography 0408006, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Martha Ainsworth & Kathleen Beegle & Godlike Koda, 2005. "The Impact of Adult Mortality and Parental Deaths on Primary Schooling in North-Western Tanzania," The Journal of Development Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 412-439, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Clive Bell & Shantayanan Devarajan & Hans Gersbach, 2003. "The long-run economic costs of AIDS : theory and an application to South Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3152, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  15. Raouf Boucekkine & Raouf Boucekkine, 2006. "Medium term dynamics and inequalities under epidemics," Computing in Economics and Finance 2006 209, Society for Computational Economics. [Downloadable!]
  16. Sonia Bhalotra, 2004. "Early Childhood Investments in Human Capital: Parental Resources and Preferences," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 04/562, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
  17. Alwyn Young, 2004. "The Gift of the Dying: The Tragedy of AIDS and the Welfare of Future African Generations," NBER Working Papers 10991, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. L.Guarcello & S.Lyon & F.Rosati & C. Valdivia, 2004. "The influence of Orphanhood on Children’s Schooling and Labour: Evidence from Sub Saharan Africa," UCW Working Paper 13, Understanding Children's Work (UCW Project). [Downloadable!]
  19. Siaens, Corinne & Subbarao, K. & Wodon, Quentin, 2006. "Assessing the Welfare of Orphans in Rwanda: Poverty, Work, Schooling, and Health," MPRA Paper 11085, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  20. Servaas van der Berg & Megan Louw, 2007. "Lessons learnt from SACMEQII: South African student performance in regional context," Working Papers 16/2007, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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