Who goes back to school after birth? Factors associated with postpartum school return among adolescent mothers in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Figures & data

Figure 1. Conceptual framework for studying school return after birth, based on Singh and Mukherjee (2018).

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for the sample of adolescent mothers from the Eastern Cape, South Africa (n = 911).

	Total sample (n = 911)	Returned (n = 634)	Not returned (n = 277)
Variable	n (%); M (SD)	n (%); M (SD)	n (%); M (SD)
Demographic covariates
Adolescent mother’s age	18.13 (1.77)	17.91 (1.71)	18.63 (1.79)
Adolescent mothers’ age at the onset of the pregnancy	16.48 (1.52)	16.22 (1.45)	17.10 (1.51)
Infant/child age	1.76 (1.54)	1.82 (1.54)	1.61 (1.53)
Rural residency (vs. urban)	260 (28.5%)	179 (28.2%)	81 (29.2%)
Household size	6.26 (2.65)	6.25 (2.59)	6.29 (2.77)
Individual-level factors
Respondent is primary caregiver of her infant/child	857 (94.1%)	589 (92.9%)	268 (96.8%)
Exclusive breastfeeding (first six months postpartum)	225 (24.7%)	129 (20.4%)	96 (34.7%)
Medical - any birth problems	32 (3.5%)	23 (3.6%)	9 (3.3%)
Grade-delay preceding the pregnancy	529 (58.1%)	314 (49.5%)	215 (77.1%)
Continued schooling during pregnancy^a	633 (73.9%)	539 (85%)	94 (42.3%)
Government child support grant receipt	720 (79.0%)	504 (79.5%)	216 (77.9%)
In relationship with child’s father	457 (50.1%)	314 (49.5%)	143 (51.6%)
Maintenance payments receipt from the child’s father	43 (4.7%)	33 (5.2%)	10 (3.6%)
Family- and household-level factors
Household poverty (available basic necessities in the household)	5.20 (2.24)	5.52 (2.16)	4.44 (2.24)
Respondent co-habits with caregiver	834 (91.6%)	600 (94.6%)	234 (84.5%)
Family childcare support^b	759 (88.6%)	548 (93.0%)	211 (78.7%)
Community- and service-level factors
Daycare/Crèche use^b	237 (27.6%)	204 (34.6%)	33 (12.3%)

Table 2. Independent associations between hypothesized correlates and postpartum school return.

Parameter	Return to school: AOR [95% CI]
Demographic covariates
Adolescent mothers’ age at the onset of the pregnancy	0.67 [0.60, 0.75]***
Infant/child age	1.02 [0.92, 1.13]
Rural residency (vs. urban)	0.94 [0.68, 1.29]
Household size	0.99 [0.94, 1.04]
Individual-level factors
Respondent is primary caregiver of her infant/child	0.48 [0.23, 1.01]
Exclusive breastfeeding (first six months postpartum)	0.53 [0.38, 0.74]***
Medical - any birth problems	1.35 [0.60, 3.03]
Grade-delay preceding the pregnancy	0.38 [0.27, 0.54]***
Continued schooling during pregnancy (vs. not continued)	7.61 [5.34, 10.86]***
Government child support grant receipt	0.99 [0.99, 1.00]
In relationship with child’s father	1.10 [0.81, 1.49]
Maintenance payments receipt from the child’s father	1.46 [0.69, 3.06]
Family- and household-level factors
Household poverty (available basic necessities in the household)	1.27 [1.18, 1.36]***
Respondent co-habits with caregiver	3.44 [2.06, 5.71]***
Family childcare support	2.16 [1.51, 3.08]***
Community- and service-level factors
Daycare/Crèche use	4.29 [2.72, 6.75]***

Table 3. Associations between hypothesized correlates and postpartum school return.

Model	Step χ^2	Model χ^2	McFadden’s R^2	Count R^2
Step 1: Demographic covariates	63.54	63.54^§	0.06	0.70
Step 2: Household poverty	49.06	112.60^§	0.10	0.73
Step 3: Pre-pregnancy school progression	27.03	139.63^§	0.13	0.72
Step 4: Schooling during pregnancy	68.81	208.45^§	0.19	0.74
Step 5: Postnatal factors	83.39	291.85^§	0.26	0.78
Final model (including all associated factors and covariates):
Variable	B	SE	Wald χ2	OR [95% CI]
Adolescent mother’s age at the onset of the pregnancy	−0.12	0.07	- 1.68	0.89 [0.77, 1.02]
Rural residency (referent: urban residency)	−0.17	0.21	- 0.82	0.84 [0.57, 1.22]
Infant/child age	0.03	0.07	0.47	1.03 [0.89, 1.19]
Household poverty (available basic necessities in the household)	0.17	0.04	3.93	1.18 [1.09, 1.28]***
Grade-delay preceding the pregnancy	−0.67	0.22	−3.03	0.51 [0.33-0.79]***
Continued schooling during pregnancy (referent: Discontinued schooling)	1.95	0.19	9.84	7.04 [4.77, 10.40]***
Respondent co-habits with caregiver	0.50	0.36	1.36	1.65 [0.80, 3.41]
Exclusive breastfeeding (first six months postpartum)	−0.69	0.21	- 3.26	0.50 [0.33, 0.76]***
Daycare/Crèche use	1.42	0.28	4.99	4.15 [2.37, 7.27]***
Family childcare support	0.84	0.23	3.60	2.33 [1.47, 3.69]***

Figure 2. Tested mediation pathways towards postpartum school return. The coefficients are based on 5,000 bootstrapped samples. Mediation analyses controlled for all variables in the final model of school return (Table 3), n = 805. Dotted lines indicate hypothesised pathways that were non-significant. *p< .05. **p< .01. ***p< .001.

Singh and Mukherjee. (2018). Push out, pull Out, or opting Out? Reasons cited by adolescents for discontinuing education in four low- and middle-income countries. In J. E. Lansford, & P. Banati (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent development research and its impact on global policy (pp. 1–482). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190847128.003.0012

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