Making the grade: family structure and children’s educational participation in Columbia, Egypt and India

W. Bradford Wilcox, University of Virginia
Alejandro Cid, Child Trends
Laura Lippman, Child Trends
Camille Whitney, Child Trends

Research in the U.S. and much of the developed world suggests that children in intact, two-parent households typically do better on educational outcomes than do children in single-parent and step-family households. While studies in the developed world generally indicate that family structure influences educational outcomes, less is known about whether children living with their two biological parents in the developing world have better educational outcomes, all things being equal, than children in step- or single-parent families, or children living in households without a biological parent. This is an important gap in the literature because step- and single-parent families are becoming more common in much of the developing world. Using data drawn from Demographic and Health Surveys in three countries (Columbia, Egypt, and India), we will investigate the influence of family structure on children’s participation in primary and secondary schooling.