Challenging household dynamics: Impact of orphanhood, parental absence, and children's living arrangements on education in South Africa

Abstract

Public health and social-historical changes have had multiple effects on South African children and families. This study examines the association between challenging family dynamics, such as child orphan status, and educational delay, as defined by being below proper grade-for-age. Analysing the 2003/2004 South Africa Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) dataset, we estimate orphan prevalence, maternal and paternal household presence, other household characteristics, and schooling variables in a nationally representative household sample. Among 5592 children ages 8–14 in South Africa, 21% had experienced parental death, 33% did not have their mother present in the household, and 63% of the children were not living with their father. Twenty per cent were behind proper grade-for-age. A bivariate analysis shows that orphaned children experienced 35% greater odds of being behind in school (p<0.001). After adjusting for parental presence, household characteristics, and socio-demographic factors, orphan status does not remain significantly associated with being behind in school. However, maternal presence, relationship to the household head, number of children in a household, and socio-demographic characteristics each independently affect a child's likelihood of educational delay. Findings offer a more nuanced understanding of household dynamics that may protect against or exacerbate educational delays among vulnerable youth.

Keywords:

• South Africa
• orphans
• families
• households
• education

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Megan Klein Hattori for comments on an earlier draft, Thomas Stieve for recommendations on data analysis, and Mark Lurie for his support. Sponsorship: Preparation of this paper was supported in part by grants from the Leverhulme Trust (F/08 599/C) and the John Fell Fund (Oxford University) to Don Operario.

Notes

1. The Social Assistance Amendment Act, 2008, lowered the age at which men become eligible for a pension grant. We chose to define this variable based on the age of eligibility for men and women in 2003 and 2004 when the survey was conducted by DHS.