The Long-run Impact of Orphanhood

This paper presents unique evidence that orphanhood matters in the long run for health and education outcomes, in a region of Northwestern Tanzania. The paper studies a sample of 718 non-orphaned children surveyed in 1991-94, who were traced and re-interviewed as adults in 2004. A large proportion, 19 percent, lost one or more parents before the age of 15 in this period, allowing the authors to assess the permanent health and education impacts of orphanhood. The analysis controls for a wide range of child and adult characteristics before orphanhood, as well as community fixed effects. The findings show that maternal orphanhood has a permanent adverse impact of 2 cm of final height attainment and one year of educational attainment. Expressing welfare in terms of consumption expenditure, the result is a gap of 8.5 percent compared with similar children whose mother survived till at least their 15th birthday.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	De Weerdt, Joachim, Beegle, Kathleen, Dercon, Stefan
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2007-09
Subjects:	ACCOUNT, ADOLESCENTS, ADULT LIFE, ADULT MORTALITY, AFFECTED CHILDREN, AGED, AIDS EPIDEMIC, BULLETIN, CAUSES OF DEATH, CHILD FOSTERING, CHILD HEALTH, CHILD LABOR, CHILD MALNUTRITION, CHILDBEARING, CHILDREN AT RISK, CULTURAL CHANGE, DEMOGRAPHIC IMPACT, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DIET, DISCRIMINATION, DISEASES, DOUBLE ORPHAN, DOUBLE ORPHANS, EARLY CHILDHOOD, ECONOMIC STATUS, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, ENROLLMENT, ENROLLMENT RATES, EPIDEMIC, EPIDEMIOLOGY, EXTENDED FAMILIES, EXTENDED FAMILY, GIRLS, HEALTH EFFECTS, HEALTH FACILITIES, HEALTH OUTCOMES, HEALTH SERVICES, HETEROSEXUAL CONTACT, HIV, HOSPITAL, HOUSEHOLD NUMBER, HOUSEHOLD SIZE, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, ILLNESSES, IMPACT OF AIDS, IMPACT ON CHILDREN, IMPACT ON HEALTH, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, INTERVENTIONS, INVESTMENTS IN EDUCATION, JOURNAL OF MEDICINE, LABOR FORCE, LIVING STANDARDS, MALNOURISHED CHILDREN, MATERNAL DEATH, MATERNAL DEATHS, MATERNAL ORPHANS, MEASLES, MEDICAL CARE, MORTALITY, MORTALITY OF MEN, MOTHER, NUMBER OF CHILDREN, NUMBER OF ORPHANS, NUTRITION, NUTRITIONAL STATUS, NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF ORPHANS, OBESITY, ORPHAN, ORPHAN CARE, ORPHAN CRISIS, ORPHANHOOD, ORPHANS, PANDEMIC, PARENTAL DEATH, PARENTAL EDUCATION, PARENTAL ILLNESS, PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT, PATERNAL ORPHANS, PEDIATRICS, POLICY RESEARCH, POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER, POOR HEALTH, POOR HOUSEHOLDS, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRIMARY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE, PROGRESS, PSYCHOLOGY, PUBERTY, RETURNS TO EDUCATION, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE, SCHOOL YEAR, SCHOOL YEARS, SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN, SCHOOLING, SCHOOLS, SEX, SOCIAL RESEARCH, SOCIAL SCIENCE, SOCIOECONOMIC DIFFERENCES, SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, TEEN, TRAUMA, UNIVERSAL AVAILABILITY, VACCINATION, WAGES, WORKERS, YOUNG ADULTS, YOUNG AGE, YOUNG AGES, YOUNGER CHILDREN,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/09/8291130/long-run-impact-orphanhood https://hdl.handle.net/10986/7353
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