Orphanhood and the Long‐Run Impact on Children

Abstract

Data from the Kagera (Tanzania) Health and Development Survey (KHDS), a longitudinal socioeconomic survey conducted from September 1991 to January 1994 and in 2004, were used to examine the impact of orphanhood on children's school attainment and height. Focusing on a sample of initially non-orphaned children in 1991-4, the impact of observed orphanhood shocks on height and educational attainment in 2004 was estimated. Throughout the analysis, a wide range of household and child conditions before orphanhood and for community fixed effects were controlled. By further restricting the sample to those already reaching adulthood in 2004, evidence on the persistent impacts of becoming orphaned from ages 7 to 15 was obtained. Strong effects of maternal and paternal orphanhood on education were observed.