Bad experiences underlie pregnancy-related dropout.

In most African countries, when a girl gets pregnant or married, she also leaves school. Many people assume that most young women who drop out of school following a pregnancy or marriage would otherwise have remained in school. But is school dropout caused by adolescent pregnancy and marriage, or are early school exit, pregnancy, and marriage all the result of the same underlying circumstances?

Few studies have examined the relationships between early marriage, adolescent pregnancy, and leaving school. Two recent Population Council studies investigate the links between these phenomena in diverse African settings. One study looked at several countries in francophone Africa, and the other examined South Africa. "South Africa is unusual in the subcontinent in having a high rate of premarital adolescent childbearing, combined with high levels of adolescent female school attendance and liberal policies that officially allow pregnant girls and young mothers to stay enrolled," says Kelly Hallman, Population Council health economist. The country also has child support grants for poor single mothers.

Despite the contrasting societal contexts in the two studies--in which girls' opportunities with regard to pregnancy are quite different--the researchers found similarities in the schooling outcomes. The studies showed that negative early schooling experiences, such as repeating a grade and being older than other students in the same grade, are significantly correlated both with the risk of getting married or pregnant and with the risk of dropping out. In South Africa, girls who become pregnant are more likely to leave school entirely if they have had these negative experiences. In francophone Africa, negative school experiences represent a bigger challenge to school completion than do child marriage and adolescent pregnancy. These findings have important policy implications.

Francophone Africa

Population Council social scientists Cynthia B. Lloyd and Barbara S. Mensch analyzed Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from sub-Saharan Africa, focusing primarily on five francophone countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, and Togo. In these countries, data were gathered from all reproductive-age women on their age at leaving school and the main reason for leaving school for those no longer attending. (Neither of these two pieces of information is part of the standard DHS questionnaire.)

Lloyd and Mensch found that girls are far more likely to leave school during adolescence for reasons other than childbirth or marriage than they are to leave because of either of these events. Several possible common causes underlie premature departure from school and early marriage and childbearing. For example, starting school later than the suggested age, and thus being older than other students in the class, appears to be a factor predisposing girls to early school departure and early marriage and childbearing. Rather than being a causal factor, however, it could be that parents who place little value on the schooling of their daughters and plan to have them marry early are more likely to send them to school late with the expectation that they will stay in school only through the primary level. Speaking of the possible policy implications arising from these findings, Mensch states, "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."

South Africa

Monica Grant and Kelly Hallman examined prior school performance as a factor in pregnancy-related school exit in South Africa. Grant, a former Council researcher and current doctoral student, and Hallman used data from an adolescent survey conducted in 2001 in KwaZulu-Natal. The study collected detailed retrospective data on schooling, pregnancy, and births.

Grant and Hallman found that poor prior school performance (as measured by temporary school withdrawal and grade repetition) is strongly associated with a young woman's likelihood of becoming pregnant while enrolled in school, dropping out of school if she becomes pregnant, and not returning to school following pregnancy-related dropout. Young women who are the primary caregivers to their children are also significantly more likely to leave school than are women who share or relinquish childcare responsibilities. Furthermore, young women who live with an adult female are significantly more likely to return to school following a pregnancy-related dropout.

"The findings of both of these studies suggest numerous underlying causes for early school exit, pregnancy, and marriage: a lack of social and economic opportunities for girls and women and the domestic demands placed on them, coupled with the gender inequities of the education system. These conditions may result in unsatisfactory school experiences, poor academic performance, and cultural acceptance of early marriage and motherhood," concludes Lloyd.

SOURCES

Grant, Monica and Kelly Hallman. 2006. "Pregnancy-related school dropout and prior school performance in South Africa," Policy Research Division Working Paper no. 212. New York: Population Council.

Lloyd, Cynthia B. and Barbara S. Mensch. 2006. "Marriage and childbirth as factors in school exit: An analysis of DHS data from sub Saharan Africa," Policy Research Division Working Paper no. 219. New York: Population Council. Forthcoming in Population Studies.

OUTSIDE FUNDING

Department for International Development (UK), the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation