The Impact of Household Shocks on Adolescent School Outcomes in South Africa

2011 Children & Youth in Crisis Paper

17 Pages Posted: 16 Feb 2011

See all articles by David A. Lam

David A. Lam

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor

Cally Ardington

University of Cape Town (UCT)

Murray Leibbrandt

University of Cape Town (UCT) - Faculty of Commerce; Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit

Date Written: February 15, 2011

Abstract

This paper uses the the Cape Area Panel Study (CAPS), a longitudinal survey of young people in Cape Town, to analyze the impact of short-term household economic shocks on the schooling outcomes of South African youth. In addition to detailed information on schooling and employment, CAPS has collected information on negative shocks experienced by households, including job loss, business failure, theft, property damage, and death of household members. The CAPS panel data allow us to prospectively follow young people as they progress through secondary school, looking at the impact of both initial conditions and household shocks that occur between waves. We follow about 1000 CAPS respondents who were in grade 8 or 9 in 2002. Our results indicate that youth households that experience a negative shock are 12 percentage points less likely to advance three grades between 2002 and 2005.

Keywords: South Africa, education, youth, impact of household shocks

Suggested Citation

Lam, David A. and Ardington, Cally and Leibbrandt, Murray and Leibbrandt, Murray, The Impact of Household Shocks on Adolescent School Outcomes in South Africa (February 15, 2011). 2011 Children & Youth in Crisis Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1762319 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1762319

David A. Lam (Contact Author)

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor ( email )

500 S. State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
United States

Cally Ardington

University of Cape Town (UCT) ( email )

South African Labour & Development Research Unit
Rondebosch 7701
South Africa

Murray Leibbrandt

Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit ( email )

University of Cape Town
Private Bag X03
Rondebosch 7701, 7701
South Africa

University of Cape Town (UCT) - Faculty of Commerce ( email )

Rondebosch 7701
South Africa

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