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Full-Text Articles in Demography, Population, and Ecology
Keeping Girls In Schools To Reduce Child Marriage In Rural Bangladesh—Research Brief And Baseline Highlights, Sigma Ainul, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Md. Irfan Hossain, Forhana Rahman Noor, Iqbal Ehsan, Sajeda Amin, Ubaidur Rob
Keeping Girls In Schools To Reduce Child Marriage In Rural Bangladesh—Research Brief And Baseline Highlights, Sigma Ainul, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Md. Irfan Hossain, Forhana Rahman Noor, Iqbal Ehsan, Sajeda Amin, Ubaidur Rob
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Bangladesh has made considerable progress in improving access to education at all levels for the last two decades. Despite these impressive gains, Bangladesh continues to face challenges of student dropout at the secondary level. Girls drop out of school earlier than boys because of child marriage. Targeted policies and interventions designed to improve mainstream educational attainment and decrease child marriage may be the effective and sustainable way to address both issues. The Population Council implemented the project “Keeping Girls in Schools to Reduce Child Marriage in Rural Bangladesh.” An intervention research study, the project tests a life-skills and tutoring support …
Keeping Girls In Schools To Reduce Child Marriage In Rural Bangladesh—Program Brief, Population Council
Keeping Girls In Schools To Reduce Child Marriage In Rural Bangladesh—Program Brief, Population Council
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
For the last two decades, Bangladesh has made considerable progress in improving access to education at all levels. Despite these gains, the country continues to face challenges from student dropout at the secondary level. Girls drop out of school earlier than boys because of child marriage. Targeted policies and interventions designed to improve educational attainment and decrease child marriage may be an effective and sustainable way to address both issues. The Population Council implemented an intervention research study to test a life-skills and tutoring support model to reduce school dropout among secondary-school girls and enhance livelihood skills for unmarried girls …
Adolescent Girls' Voices On Enhancing Their Own Productivity In Pakistan: Highlights 2019, Iram Kamran, Tahira Parveen, Rehan M. Niazi
Adolescent Girls' Voices On Enhancing Their Own Productivity In Pakistan: Highlights 2019, Iram Kamran, Tahira Parveen, Rehan M. Niazi
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Of the 11 million girls aged 15 to 19 years in Pakistan, nearly half (47 percent) are “not in education, employment, or marriage” (NEEM). This brief presents highlights from a qualitative study conducted in Punjab province of Pakistan to probe the lives, perspectives, and aspirations of NEEM girls regarding education and involvement in economic activity and identify locally acceptable ways in which their lives may be positively transformed through access to education and safe and fair work opportunities.
Does Education Improve Health In Low- And Middle Income Countries? Results From A Systematic Review, Stephanie Psaki, Barbara Mensch, Erica Chuang, Andrea J. Melnikas
Does Education Improve Health In Low- And Middle Income Countries? Results From A Systematic Review, Stephanie Psaki, Barbara Mensch, Erica Chuang, Andrea J. Melnikas
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Despite enormous progress in expanding school enrollment globally, improvements in health have not always followed, raising important questions: Does education, in fact, enable women, men and their families to be healthier? And if so, how? To fill this gap in knowledge, the GIRL Center conducted a systematic review of the evidence for the effects of education on health in low- and middle-income countries.
Adolescent Girls' Voices On Enhancing Their Own Productivity In Pakistan, Iram Kamran, Tahira Parveen, Maqsood Sadiq, Rehan M. Niazi
Adolescent Girls' Voices On Enhancing Their Own Productivity In Pakistan, Iram Kamran, Tahira Parveen, Maqsood Sadiq, Rehan M. Niazi
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This study was conducted in the Punjab province of Pakistan to examine the lives, aspirations, and perspectives of the largely invisible and marginalized group of older adolescent girls (ages 15–19 years) who are “not in education, employment for pay or profit, nor in marriage” (“NEEM”). The study seeks to identify the reasons for the exclusion of the NEEM girls from education and participation in paid work; explore opportunities and avenues for changing these girls’ existing opportunity structures; and probe the gender norms and behaviors underlying their marginalization to obtain insights into what it would take to change their situation.
Measuring Gender Equality In Education: Lessons From 43 Countries, Stephanie Psaki, Katharine Mccarthy, Barbara Mensch
Measuring Gender Equality In Education: Lessons From 43 Countries, Stephanie Psaki, Katharine Mccarthy, Barbara Mensch
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Through the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), governments committed to achieving universal secondary school completion, including eliminating gender disparities, by 2030. The period from 1997 to 2014 saw considerable progress in closing gender gaps in school enrollment and attainment in many, but not all, low- and middle-income countries. However, as this research brief explains, claims that gender parity in primary education now exists are premature, especially in the poorest countries and new gender gaps, or gender-related challenges, may emerge as attainment increases. Moreover, the extremely low levels of secondary school enrollment—and even moreso completion—demonstrate that the SDG target of universal …
School Related Violence, Sanitation Facilities At School, And Menstrual Hygiene Management: What Is The Evidence For Their Effect On School Attendance And Learning, And How Might Population Scientists Advance This Research Agenda?, Barbara Mensch
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
No abstract provided.
Engaging Parents To Promote Girls' Transition To Secondary Education: Evidence From A Cluster Randomised Trial In Rural Gujarat, India, K.G. Santhya, A.J. Francis Zavier, Pallavi Patel, Neeta Shah
Engaging Parents To Promote Girls' Transition To Secondary Education: Evidence From A Cluster Randomised Trial In Rural Gujarat, India, K.G. Santhya, A.J. Francis Zavier, Pallavi Patel, Neeta Shah
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The Population Council and partners, with the support of the Human Dignity Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, implemented a pilot intervention in India─Project Sankalp─to assess the acceptability and feasibility of engaging parents and communities to promote girls’ secondary education. The project's aim was to measure its effectiveness in improving adolescent girls’ transition to secondary education, their attendance at school, and learning outcomes. Findings show that the effect of Project Sankalp on creating an enabling environment for girls to pursue secondary education was mixed. On the positive side, the project showed success in raising girls’ educational …
Education, Numeracy, And Literacy: Baseline Findings, Population Council
Education, Numeracy, And Literacy: Baseline Findings, Population Council
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) is a program for girls ages 10–19 in rural and urban Zambia that aims to find the best ways to improve their social, health, and economic resources. The program involves over 10,000 girls participating in weekly girls’ group meetings, receiving health vouchers, and opening savings accounts. Over 5,000 girls, unmarried at baseline, are enrolled in a randomized, controlled trial and are being followed over four years—including the two years of the program and two years after. This brief describes the characteristics of these girls at baseline. Of the girls who are currently in school, …
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Program Overview, Population Council
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Program Overview, Population Council
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
For Zambian girls, social isolation, economic vulnerability, and lack of appropriate health information and services are critical problems that prevent a healthy transition from girlhood to womanhood. The challenges that girls are confronted with—high rates of gender-based violence, unsafe sex that puts girls at risk for unwanted pregnancy and HIV infection, school dropout, lack of economic resources and income-generating options, lack of agency and participation—are linked together through their root causes. Therefore, the solutions must be interconnected as well. Through the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP), the Population Council and partners are implementing a social, health, and economic asset-building program …
Berhane Hewan ('Light For Eve'): Increasing Opportunities To Delay Marriage And Promote Schooling, Annabel Erulkar, Eunice N. Muthengi
Berhane Hewan ('Light For Eve'): Increasing Opportunities To Delay Marriage And Promote Schooling, Annabel Erulkar, Eunice N. Muthengi
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This policy brief describes the findings of a pilot study on girls’ experience of early marriage, education, and sexual behavior in rural Amhara Region, Ethiopia. The brief also discusses efforts in the region to delay marriage and promote girls’ schooling. The Amhara Bureau of Women, Children and Youth Affairs and the Population Council pilot-tested a program to delay marriage and support schooling in rural Amhara Region. The program, entitled Berhane Hewan (Amharic for “Light for Eve”), included community conversations, support for remaining in school, and conditional cash transfers if girls remained unmarried and in school for the duration of the …
Is Early Childhood Care And Education A Good Investment For Egypt? Estimates Of Educational Impacts, Costs, And Benefits, Caroline Krafft
Is Early Childhood Care And Education A Good Investment For Egypt? Estimates Of Educational Impacts, Costs, And Benefits, Caroline Krafft
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This brief examines Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in Egypt. Findings suggest that expansion of ECCE is a good investment. Providing kindergarten to all Egyptian children, and particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, could be an important step toward greater equality, efficiency, and attainment in the education system.
Challenges Facing The Egyptian Education System: Access, Quality, And Inequality, Caroline Krafft
Challenges Facing The Egyptian Education System: Access, Quality, And Inequality, Caroline Krafft
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This brief analyzes and summarizes young people's responses to the 2009 Survey of Young People in Egypt (SYPE) to identify the greatest challenges facing the Egyptian educational system, focusing specifically on primary through secondary schooling. Results show that access to school has improved, but some youth, especially females in rural Upper Egypt, remain outside the school system and are increasingly marginalized. The Egyptian school system is delivering low-quality education that is irrelevant to the labor market and has problems with repetition, absenteeism, and drop out which reduce the efficiency of the education system. Unequal distribution of resources in the education …
Is Early Childhood Care And Education A Good Investment For Egypt? Estimates Of Educational Impacts, Costs, And Benefits [Arabic], Caroline Krafft
Is Early Childhood Care And Education A Good Investment For Egypt? Estimates Of Educational Impacts, Costs, And Benefits [Arabic], Caroline Krafft
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This summary details the impact of early childhood education in Egypt. The results show that early childhood care and education has an impact on educational attainment that is both statistically significant and sizeable. Such interventions increase overall educational attainment by approximately one year, primarily due to decreased primary and preparatory drop out. The impact on educational attainment is reflected in improved school performance, such as higher test scores, decreased grade repetition, and improvements in school tracking, during the early years. Investments in early childhood education can be a powerful approach to improving educational outcomes, and the research suggests that increases …
Challenges Facing The Egyptian Education System: Access, Quality, And Inequality [Arabic], Caroline Krafft
Challenges Facing The Egyptian Education System: Access, Quality, And Inequality [Arabic], Caroline Krafft
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This brief analyzes and summarizes young people's responses to the 2009 Survey of Young People in Egypt (SYPE) to identify the greatest challenges facing the Egyptian educational system, focusing specifically on primary through secondary schooling. Results show that access to school has improved, but some youth, especially females in rural Upper Egypt, remain outside the school system and are increasingly marginalized. The Egyptian school system is delivering low-quality education that is irrelevant to the labor market and has problems with repetition, absenteeism, and drop out which reduce the efficiency of the education system. Unequal distribution of resources in the education …
Education And Transition To Work Among Youth In Andhra Pradesh, International Institute For Population Sciences (Iips), Population Council
Education And Transition To Work Among Youth In Andhra Pradesh, International Institute For Population Sciences (Iips), Population Council
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Looking at the current educational and employment situation of youth in Andhra Pradesh, this Population Council policy brief argues that significant investments in terms of appropriate policies and programs are required to enable the state to achieve the Millennium Development Goals of universal primary education and elimination of gender disparity in primary and secondary education, harness its demographic dividend, and enable its youth to participate in and benefit from global development. Notwithstanding the state’s existing policy commitments, findings indicate that several challenges remain. The brief recommends a number of policies and programs to overcome these challenges.
The Nature Of Mothers' Work And Children's Schooling In Nepal: The Influence Of Income And Time Effects, Ashish Bajracharya
The Nature Of Mothers' Work And Children's Schooling In Nepal: The Influence Of Income And Time Effects, Ashish Bajracharya
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Using nationally representative cross-sectional data from the Nepal Living Standards Survey, this Population Council working paper examines the influence of the nature of mothers’ work on Nepali children’s schooling outcomes. It analyses whether the engagement of mothers (and fathers) in nonagricultural work has significant consequences for their children’s school attendance and grade attainment, compared with these consequences when parents’ work is in traditional subsistence agriculture. Results indicate that children of parents who both work in the nonagriculture sector are significantly more likely to have attended or currently be attending school and have higher grade attainment, compared with children whose parents …
Educational Inequalities In The Midst Of Persistent Poverty: Diversity Across Africa In Educational Outcomes, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Paul C. Hewett
Educational Inequalities In The Midst Of Persistent Poverty: Diversity Across Africa In Educational Outcomes, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Paul C. Hewett
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This working paper explores inequalities in education across sub-Saharan Africa, focusing mostly on primary school completion rates, with attention also given to literacy as a more proximate indicator of human capital acquisition. Using data from the Demographic and Health Surveys and UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, we explore cross-country variations in primary school completion rates, gender and wealth gaps in education, and literacy rates in relation to one another and in relation to cross-country variations in national income per capita. While these data paint a picture of overall educational progress, particularly for girls, this general picture is juxtaposed against an …
Looking Beyond Universal Primary Education: Gender Differences In Time Use Among Children In Rural Bangladesh, Sajeda Amin, S. Chandrasekhar
Looking Beyond Universal Primary Education: Gender Differences In Time Use Among Children In Rural Bangladesh, Sajeda Amin, S. Chandrasekhar
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This paper addresses gender equity in parents’ educational investments in children in a context of rising school attendance in rural Bangladesh. Using data from the nationally representative 2005 Bangladesh Adolescent Survey, we analyze correlates of time spent in school, studying outside school, and work, using a data set on time-use patterns of schoolgoing children and adolescents. We find that time spent in work varies inversely with the amount of time spent studying at home, while time at school shows no such association. We find support for two hypotheses regarding household influences on education: that time spent in school is insensitive …
Marriage And Childbirth As Factors In School Exit: An Analysis Of Dhs Data From Sub-Saharan Africa, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Barbara Mensch
Marriage And Childbirth As Factors In School Exit: An Analysis Of Dhs Data From Sub-Saharan Africa, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Barbara Mensch
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This paper explores the potential importance of marriage and childbirth as determinants of school-leaving in sub-Saharan Africa and identifies some of the common underlying factors that contribute to premature school-leaving and early marriage and childbearing. Results suggests that the reproductive health community should see early marriage as a central area of concern for adolescent reproductive health. Policies that inform parents about the value of starting their children in school on time are likely to have beneficial effects both for grade attainment and for adolescent reproductive health regardless of school quality.
Multiple Disadvantages Of Mayan Females: The Effects Of Gender, Ethnicity, Poverty, And Residence On Education In Guatemala, Kelly Hallman, Sara Peracca, Jennifer Catino, Marta Julia Ruiz
Multiple Disadvantages Of Mayan Females: The Effects Of Gender, Ethnicity, Poverty, And Residence On Education In Guatemala, Kelly Hallman, Sara Peracca, Jennifer Catino, Marta Julia Ruiz
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Although access to primary education in Guatemala has increased in recent years, particularly in rural areas, levels of educational attainment and literacy remain among the lowest in Latin America. Inequalities in school access and grade attainment linked to ethnicity, gender, poverty, and residence remain. Age trends show that Mayan females are the least likely to ever enroll, and, if they do enroll, start school the latest and drop out earliest. Innovative programs for girls that combine instruction with social interaction in safe local community spaces may increase their educational attainment and their social networks and means of social support. In …
Pregnancy-Related School Dropout And Prior School Performance In South Africa, Monica J. Grant, Kelly Hallman
Pregnancy-Related School Dropout And Prior School Performance In South Africa, Monica J. Grant, Kelly Hallman
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Using data collected in 2001 in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, this working paper examines the factors associated with schoolgirl pregnancy, as well as the likelihood of school dropout and subsequent re-enrollment among pregnant schoolgirls. This analysis triangulates data collected from birth histories, education histories, and data concerning pregnancy to strengthen the identification of young women who became pregnant while enrolled in school and to define discrete periods of school interruption prior to first pregnancy. Given the increasing levels of female school participation in sub-Saharan Africa, our findings suggest that future studies will benefit from exploring the causal relationships between prior school …
Poverty And Children's Schooling In Urban And Rural Senegal, Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett
Poverty And Children's Schooling In Urban And Rural Senegal, Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This paper presents findings of a Population Council investigation into the effects of living standards and relative poverty on children’s schooling in urban and rural areas of Senegal. The research shows that in Senegal’s urban areas, living standards exert substantial influence on three measures of schooling: whether a child has ever attended school; whether he or she has completed at least four grades of primary school; and whether he or she is currently enrolled. In rural areas of Senegal, however, the effects are weaker and achieve statistical significance only for the wealthiest fifth of rural households. To judge from the …
Primary Schooling In Sub-Saharan Africa: Recent Trends And Current Challenges, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Paul C. Hewett
Primary Schooling In Sub-Saharan Africa: Recent Trends And Current Challenges, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Paul C. Hewett
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
At the dawn of the twenty-first century we estimate that more than 37 million young adolescents aged 10-14 in sub-Saharan Africa will not complete primary school. Our estimates are based on data from nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys from 26 countries, collectively representing 83 percent of the sub-Saharan youth population. This number is nearly twice the entire population of children aged 10-14 in the United States, virtually all of whom will complete primary school. Reducing the number of uneducated African youth is a primary objective of the United Nations as laid out in the Millennium Development Goal for education, …