Gender, poverty and child schooling: A case study of Punjab, Pakistan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71085/joclsi.04.02.84Keywords:
Child Schooling, Poverty, Gender Disparities, Logistic Regression, Educational inequality, Educational Attainment, Household Socioeconomic Status, Determinants of School AttendanceAbstract
This study investigates the multifaceted factors influencing child schooling in Punjab (Pakistan), with a particular focus on the poverty and gender of the child. The analysis has been done by applying Logistic Regression on the data of the children of age cohort 5-17 obtained through Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2017-18 conducted in Punjab, Pakistan. Our findings reveal that father’s education, mother’s education, and area of residence (rural/urban), region of residence, family size, rank of the child in the household, remittances, financial support, gender of the child and poverty are significant determinants of children’s schooling. Children of educated parents are more likely to attend school. Similarly, children of the families living in urban areas, belonging to central Punjab and receiving remittances are more likely to attend school. Financial support provided by the government, gender of the child and poverty are also crucial to determine children’s schooling. Our findings further reveal that the probability of school attendance is lower for girls than for boys, and this disparity is even more pronounced among girls from low-income households. This finding is further supported by the interaction term included in our methodology, which confirms the compounded disadvantage faced by girls in poor families.
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The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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