Cinderella Goes to School: The Effects of Child Fostering on School Enrollment in South Africa

Abstract

Fostering is a common institution throughout developing countries, where up to 25 percent of children are fostered. An analysis of 8, 627 Black South African children suggests that foster children are not less likely than others to attend school, and they tend to move from homes that have difficulty enrolling them in school to homes that are more apt to do so. The net impact of fostering on these children is to reduce the risk of not attending school by up to 22 percent. Fostering therefore provides an important means of improving human-capital investment. Evidence that households foster-in children primarily for their domestic labor is limited.

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