Inequalities in children’s schooling: AIDS, orphanhood, poverty, and gender

SummaryThe relationship between orphan status, household economic status, and child school enrollment across low-income countries varies substantially. Orphans sometimes have lower enrollment than non-orphans, but in many countries, the difference is small and not statistically significantly different from zero. The orphan enrollment gap is typically dwarfed by the gap between children from richer and poorer households. Often, even children from richer households have low enrollments—suggesting constraints to enrollment for all children. Girl orphans are typically not disproportionately affected in terms of enrollment. Policies need to assess country-specific situations, focusing on the interaction between orphan status, poverty, and the education system more generally—before considering school-related orphan-specific mitigation measures.