Keeping Children in School

Abstract

We study household and context determinants of school dropout using data for 130,000 children in 363 regions of 30 developing countries using multi-level discrete-time event-history analysis. Most (72%) of the variation in school dropout is due to household-level factors, with socioeconomic resources (parental education, father’s occupation, and wealth) being most important. Household structure plays a role too. Earlier born, non-biological children and children living with one parent drop out more. Important context factors are educational resources (availability of schools and teachers) and level of development of the region. Interaction analysis reveals that many effects of household-level factors depend on context characteristics, stressing the importance of a situation-specific approach. Results also indicate that the transition from primary to secondary education is a major breaking point in children’s educational careers and that extending the duration of primary education might be an effective strategy to keep children in school longer.