Family Structure and Child Educational Attainment in the Slums of Nairobi, Kenya

Benta A. Abuya, Maurice Mutisya, Elijah O. Onsomu, Moses Ngware and Moses Oketch

SAGE Open, 2019, vol. 9, issue 2, 2158244019855849

Abstract: Research shows that children living with two biological parents outperform those raised in other family structures. A growing number of children do not live with two biological parents in sub-Saharan Africa, but few studies have examined the consequences. In this article, data from the African Population and Health Research Center collected in the slums of Nairobi are fitted to a logistic regression model to test the hypothesis that two-parent families are most favorable to schooling outcomes in Kenya. After controlling for socioeconomic variables, the effect of family structure on educational attainment of children persists. Children in two-parent households were 40% (unadjusted odds ratio [UOR] = 1.40, p = .01) and 16% (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.16, p = .1) more likely to be in the right age for grade compared with children in one-parent households. The study calls for strengthening single-parent households to achieve better educational outcomes for the children.

Keywords: childhood; education; family; household income; Kenya; school achievement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:9:y:2019:i:2:p:2158244019855849

DOI: 10.1177/2158244019855849

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