Effects of Household- and District-Level Factors on Primary School Enrollment in 30 Developing Countries

SummaryHousehold- and district-level determinants of primary school enrollment are studied for 220,000 children in 340 districts of 30 developing countries using multilevel analysis. Parental decisions regarding children’s education are found to be influenced by socio-economic and demographic household characteristics and characteristics of the available educational facilities, like number of teachers, percentage of female teachers, and distance to school. Other relevant context characteristics are urbanization and the position of women relative to that of men. Interaction analysis shows that many effects of household-level factors depend on the context in which the household is living.