Household Constraints on Schooling by Gender: Empirical Evidence from Ethiopia

Using data collected during school-based surveys in two regions in Ethiopia, bivariate and analysis has been carried out to identify some of the important constraints to schooling. Problems in obtaining a representative sample of children not in school for type of analysis are identified, and allowances are made for these problems, where . The results provide some evidence that well-nourished children from wealthier whose mother and father are literate are more likely to attend and complete school. Furthermore, starting school at the official starting age of seven years and not a grade increases the chances of completion. For children living within the vicinity the school, opportunity costs do not appear to have a significant impact on the probability attending or completing school, although girls in and out of school have a heavier work , relative to boys. Whilst similar factors are found to influence the probability of both and girls attending and completing school in the sample, their impact on girls is greater – girls from households lacking possessions, whose parents are illiterate, are 20 cent less likely to attend school and 16 per cent less likely to complete school compared to boy with these characteristics. Starting school above the official age and repeating a grade also shown to reduce the chances of girls completing school by a slightly greater amount boys. Statistical analyses of the kind used in this paper are not able to control adequately cultural constraints to schooling, although these are recognised as potentially providing an important explanation for the gender gap.