Labor demands and gender inequality in education: understanding school enrollment patterns in Zambia

Gender is a major factor driving schooling gaps, with female school attendance and attainment lower than male outcomes in most low- and middle-income countries. In this paper, we bring together data from two sources to describe gender gaps in school enrollment in Zambia and explore factors that may be driving the observed gaps. Analysis of nationally representative data shows that boys of primary school-going ages are three to six percentage points less likely to be in school than girls, but this gender gap flips after age 14. By age 18, girls are almost 20 percentage points less likely to be enrolled in school. In the Eastern Province of Zambia, boys are almost 15 percentage points less likely than girls to be enrolled in primary schools. The male disadvantage in primary schooling is larger in households that are more time and resource-constrained, such as households headed by unemployed individuals and households that rely on firewood, a resource that households typically collect manually. Primary survey data from the Eastern Province show that young boys from farming households are more likely to be out of school, with parents of out-of-school boys citing financial challenges, farm work, and cattle herding as key reasons for school non-enrollment. Overall, our findings suggest that household labor demands for work or wood collection are compelling caregivers to keep young boys out of school, not systematic gender preferences. It is important to consider these types of economic factors that drive% low school enrollment to effectively address gender gaps in schooling.