Original Research Article
Parent-child living arrangements and children’s attainment of the required level of education in Ghana
Eric Adjei Boadu*1
1Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Ghana.
*Author’s email: ericusbua(at)yahoo.com
Eric Adjei Boadu |
Article Number: IJEPRR.21.014 | Pages: 108-125 | Vol. 8 (4), August 2021 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.15739/IJEPRR.21.014
Received: May 14, 2020 Accepted: April 22, 2021 Published: August 7, 2021
Abstract
As more single-parent families appear in societies, interests grow as to the effect of these households on children’s wellbeing. This study sought to assess the impacts of parent-child living arrangements on the educational attainments of children in Ghana. Data was extracted from the household records of Ghana’s Demographic and Health Surveys (GDHS) for 2008 (n=14,491) and 2014 (n=13,339) and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS-16.0). A parent-child living arrangement was categorized as; child does not live with any of his/her biological parents, child lives with mother alone, with father alone or with both parents. The required level of education was categorized as; the child has no education, child is not attending the required level of education, or child is attending the required level of education. The proportion of children attending the required level of education is highest when children live with only their mothers followed by children who live with both parents. Children who do not live with any of their parents as well as children who live with only their fathers range from 1.3 times more likely in 2008 and 1.6 times more likely in 2014 than children who lived with both parents to have no education or not attending the required level of education. In both 2008 and 2014, when household wealth status is below richest, children were more likely (ranging from 1.84 to 5.99 times) than when household wealth status is richest to have no education or not attending the required level of education. The multinomial analysis showed that household wealth status rather than the type of parent the child lives with has be the strongest determinant of children educational level attainment in Ghana. The government’s free educational policy up to the senior high school level is a good policy for Ghana to give all children equal opportunity to secondary education.
Keywords:
Educational attainment, single-parent, household, parent-child living arrangement, wellbeing
How to Cite this Article
Boadu EA(2021). Parent-child living arrangements and children’s attainment of the required level of education in Ghana. Int. J. Educ. Pol. Res. Rev. 8(4):108-125.
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