Effects of Parental Union Dissolution on Child Mortality and Child Schooling in Burkina Faso

Thiombiano, Bilampoa Gnoumou; Legrand, Thomas; Kobiané, Jean‐François

doi:10.4054/demres.2013.29.29

Cited by 31 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(27 reference statements)

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“…Thus, in several studies, union breakdown is not considered as a single event but rather as a process of family change. Indeed, several researchers focus on the consequences of divorce for spouses, especially women, and for children's wellbeing (Chae 2013;Gnoumou Thiombiano, Legrand, and Kobiané 2013;Cherlin, Kiernan, and Chase-Lansdale 1995).…”

Section: Context and Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Union breakdown in West African cities: The cases of Ouagadougou and Lomé

Thiombiano¹

2017

DemRes

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BACKGROUNDMarriage remains a strong institution in Africa, but union breakdown may be frequent, particularly in urban areas. However, this issue is still little studied, especially in West Africa. OBJECTIVEI examine the trends and factors associated with divorce and separation that lead to union breakdown in two West African cities: Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and Lomé in Togo. METHODSAnalyses are based on marital history data from the Economic Activities, Resourcesharing and Management of Spending in Urban Households survey, collected in 2012 in Ouagadougou and Lomé. We use the Kaplan-Meier estimator and Cox proportional hazards model for descriptive and multivariate analysis, respectively. RESULTSThe probability of union breakdown is higher in Lomé than in Ouagadougou. The celebration of the union and having a son are associated with lower risk of divorce, while infertility or low fertility and education are associated with higher risk of divorce, for men and women in both cities. Socialization in a big town is also associated with higher risk of divorce, especially for women. CONCLUSIONThe results indicate that even if urban areas represent the ideal of modernization and social change in Africa, family and society still play an important role in union stability. CONTRIBUTIONThe consideration of both men and women in the analysis is an important contribution to the study of union breakdown in Africa.

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Section: Context and Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Union breakdown in West African cities: The cases of Ouagadougou and Lomé

Thiombiano¹

2017

DemRes

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“…The handful of published studies examining the relationship between parental divorce and children’s schooling in sub-Saharan Africa (Carling and Tonnessen 2013; Thiombiano et al 2013; Oya and Sender 2009) have relied on cross-sectional data. Building on this literature, the present study used child-level fixed-effects models to control for unobserved heterogeneity that could affect both parental divorce and children’s schooling.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rather, unobserved heterogeneity may confound this association. A handful of studies conducted in sub-Saharan Africa have shown that parental divorce is negatively associated with child outcomes, including child mortality, health, and nonattendance in school (Carling and Tonnessen 2013; Clark and Hamplova 2013; Gnoumou Thiombiano et al 2013). It remains unknown whether these associations are due to a causal effect of parental divorce or selection into divorce.…”

Section: Selection Into Divorcementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study, though, interviewed only currently employed women, limiting the applicability of its findings, and did not use multivariate regression to control for confounding factors, such as mother’s education and income. In a study of 5- to 10-year-old children in Burkina Faso, Thiombiano et al (2013) showed that recent parental divorce (i.e., within the past two years) reduced the odds of starting primary school. In Malawi, Carling and Tonnessen (2013) demonstrated that parental divorce is negatively associated with current school attendance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Parental Divorce and Children’s Schooling in Rural Malawi

Chae

2016

Demography

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A growing body of literature has examined the impact of different types of family structures on children’s schooling in sub-Saharan Africa. These studies have investigated how living arrangements, gender of the household head, parental death, and paternal migration are related to schooling. Although many sub-Saharan African countries have high divorce rates, very few studies have explored the impact of parental divorce on children’s schooling. The present study uses three waves of data from the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH) to investigate the effect of parental divorce on children’s schooling and the possible mechanisms driving this relationship. Unlike prior studies, this study uses child-level fixed-effects models to control for selection into divorce. Results show that parental divorce is associated with lower grade attainment and a larger schooling gap, defined as the number of years a child is behind in school (among children currently attending school). Although no association exists between parental divorce and current school attendance, girls affected by divorce are significantly less likely to be attending school. Differences in economic resources, maternal coresidence, or maternal psychological well-being do not explain the relationship between parental divorce and children’s schooling.

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“…Formalization of the union makes a large difference: Unions that were formalized by two or more of the three common marriage ceremonies (civil, religious, and traditional) were substantially less likely to disrupt. In a previous article Thiombiano and colleagues reported that children of divorced parents in Burkina Faso experience higher estimated mortality risks under age 5 and a lower probability of entering school (Thiombiano, LeGrand, and Kobiané 2013).…”

Section: Union Dissolution In Sub-saharan Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction to the Special Collection on Separation, Divorce, Repartnering, and Remarriage around the World

Cherlin¹

2017

DemRes

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Effects of Parental Union Dissolution on Child Mortality and Child Schooling in Burkina Faso

Cited by 31 publications

References 23 publications

Union breakdown in West African cities: The cases of Ouagadougou and Lomé

Union breakdown in West African cities: The cases of Ouagadougou and Lomé

Parental Divorce and Children’s Schooling in Rural Malawi

Introduction to the Special Collection on Separation, Divorce, Repartnering, and Remarriage around the World

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