Parental and public investment in children and adolescents

The study looked at the childcare time determinants among parents in rural and urban dichotomy basis in three different states in Nigeria. We analyze the relationship between parents’ education and the time devoted to childcare activities, with a focus on activities aimed at increasing the child’s human capital. We used households with opposite-sex couples having children under age 18, from Katsina, Ekiti and Delta States. This study relies on cross sectional data collected randomly from 600 households over a two months period using well structured questionnaire because The Multinational Time Use data do not exit in Nigeria. By estimating a seemingly unrelated regressions tobit model, we find that mothers’ education is associated with an increase in the time devoted to educational childcare by fathers in Ekiti State only, while it is associated with an increase in the time devoted to educational childcare by mothers in Katsina and Delta States. The time devoted to educational childcare by both parents is higher in the urban than in the rural population. We also find that fathers’ education has no effect on the time devoted to educational childcare time by either parent. It seems that what really matters in determining the time devoted to educational childcare at the couple level is the educational level of the mother.

A substantial proportion of child deaths in sub-Saharan Africa are caused by diseases which could be prevented through greater levels of health-seeking behaviour. Socioeconomic and structural barriers in parental use and engagement with modern health technologies, such as bed net usage, vaccination and seeking medical treatment are well-established by population health scientists. However, understanding of how broader socio-demographic and child-level characteristics influence health-seeking behaviour remains limited. In this study, using data from the Demographic and Health Surveys, we explore the determinants of such behaviours from the perspective of human behavioural ecology (HBE), a framework notable for emphasizing the inherent resource allocation trade-offs parents face when investing in children, and for considering human behaviour as adapted to maximize lineage survival rather than individual health. Preliminary analyses confirm that wealth and education increase odds of health-seeking behaviour, but also demonstrate substantial differences in health-seeking behaviour by maternal age, marital status and child sex and birth order. Analyses to presented at IUSSP will also consider how these main effects interact as predicted by HBE theory.

This paper analyzes the impact of the educational conditions of Brazil’s Bolsa Família (BF) Program on the school dropout rates of children benefiting from the program. The main hypothesis is that a child who lives in a household that receives the benefit has a lower chance of dropping out of school. Data used are from the 2005 Impact Evaluation of the Bolsa Família Program (AIBF), collected by the Ministry of Social Development and Combating Famine (MDS), Brazil. Logistical models estimated the chances of children dropping out of school between 2004 and 2005, for three different household income thresholds, taking into account information about the household, mother, child, and BF benefit. For households with a maximum per capita income of 50 Brazilian Reais, the program was responsible for reducing the probability of dropping out by 57 percent. For households with a per capita income threshold of 100 Brazilian Reais, the official maximum value for eligibility into the BF Program in 2005, the likelihood of dropping out from school was reduced by 34 percent as a result of participating in the program. For households with a per capita income of up to 200 Brazilian Reais, the BF Program reduced the probability of dropping out by 33 percent.

The objective of this study is to investigate, using focus groups, aspects related to the life of public high school students of Ribeirão das Neves, Brazil, that may have an influence on their school performance . We will build on the findings of a previous study that applied multivariate logistic regression models to identify factors associated with grade repetition among junior high school students. In that study, we used data from 2009 Pesquisa Jovem (Youth Survey) and Censo Escolar (School Census). Overall, the results showed important differences by gender. Females who had left school until the 8th grade were more likely to repeat in high school. Males who had repeated until 8th grade or experienced violence at school were more likely to go through grade repetition in high school. Having no religion was a protective factor against grade repetition for males, whereas for females being Mainline Protestant was protective. What else matters in terms of grade repetition? What is the role of the family? Are state investments in schools and teachers important? What can be done to reduce or even mitigate this important problem in Brazil? The qualitative research to be carried out in 2013 will help us answer those questions.

Maternity before age 20 refuses to decline in Latin America. As relevant as this fact, is the shift in its nuptial context, given the increasing fraction of adolescent parents that neither form a union nor get emancipated from their parental homes. This carries psycho-social and socio-cultural mutations of this kind of reproduction and its potential effects. In turn, it also guides research into including a third generation in the analysis of the phenomenon, i.e., the origin family of teenage parents, in particular the grandmothers of the babies. By using census microdata from the 2010 decade (at least from seven countries), this paper will update the figures on single teen mothers and teen mothers who remain in the parental home. Additionally, the effect of this lack of emancipation will be investigated, in terms of some of the drawbacks commonly associated to early reproduction. In particular, school drop-out, dedication to domestic chores and provision of care to babies will be looked at. Some relevant factors will be controlled for, such as mother’s age, place of residence and family socio-economic status.

This study examines whether parental characteristics represents risk factor for substance use and violent activities among youth (15-24) in both setting i.e. within and outside family. Study uses a national sample of 13119 married and 25197 unmarried youth from Youth in India study (2006-07). Logistic regression results show that parents’ behavior plays role in determining youth’s behavior towards substance use and involvement in violence. Parent’s substance abuse increases twice the risk of substance abuse among youth. Similarly, witness of parental violence increases risk of all three factors of substance use, spousal violence and communal fights among by 1.3, 3.1 and 1.5 times respectively. Years of schooling is showing positive impact on lowering the risk for substance use and violent activities among them. Early life experiences such as age at cohabitation, work and premarital sexual behavior is also found to have influence on substance use and violence or may be supporting each other. Therefore, along with early life experiences and low socioeconomic status of parents it is also parental behavior which makes youth vulnerable towards substance abuse and violence.

This study approaches the evolution of the number of births outside of marriage in Brazil over the course of the last decade and the legal debate resulting from such a disassociation between reproduction and marriage from the perspective of children’s rights. According to data from the Live Birth Information System (SINASC), births from consensual unions and single mothers together increased from 56.16% in 2000 to 65.78% in 2009. Some estimates suggest that between a quarter and a fifth of children born outside marriage end up not being legally recognized by their biological fathers, and are solely registered by their mothers. In 2010 the National Justice Council launched the Pai Presente [“Present Fathers”] project to reduce the number of people with undetermined paternity in Brazil. Our goal is to discuss this reality in light of perceptions on family, children’s rights and the gender relations at the heart of “Present Fathers”.

In year2010, the total number of international students has increased by 5.7% from year2009. Mahidol University ranked as one of the top ten universities that had number of international students in Thailand

There is limited number of studies of Asian students living in ASEAN countries. The lack of researches in this area is therefore making this issue interesting.

The objectives of this research are 1) to identify motivated factors influence ASEAN students to study in Mahidol University 2) to determine their expectation for being student here 3) to identify the their adaptation in difference culture 4) to investigate the need for ASEAN students to improve the learning process. Purposive sampling procedure is designed to select the cases. Case study approach was used by interview.

Result: there is no communication problem in class but it’s hard for ASEAN students to communicate with Thai people in their daily life because of the language barrier. The reason for selecting Thailand as their destination choice is because the cost is cheap, ASEAN countries have similar culture, which doesn’t require much of adaptation. Study oversea will give them a better opportunity to get a better paid. The result of the study will serve universities seeking the need of growing international students, there is much yet to be learned.

Whilst stepfather presence has consistently been associated with detrimental effects on child development, studies rarely explore whether these effects are related to confounding changes in the investments children receive. Using ALSPAC, we explore stepfather effects on children’s height, educational achievement and behavioural difficulties at age 7 whilst controlling for measures of direct investments. We fail to find any stepfather effects on height. However, stepfather presence is associated with a reduction in children’s educational achievement and an increase in children’s behavioural difficulties. For educational achievement, this negative effect of stepfather presence is reduced to non-significant levels when mother and partner’s investment levels are accounted for. For behavioural difficulties, this negative effect is also reduced though significance is retained. Furthermore, specifically for behavioural difficulties, we find that investment from stepfathers do not have any beneficial effects. Our results suggest that, for educational achievement, stepfather effects are due to lower levels of investment levels children receive. For behavioural difficulty, stepfather effects are due to multiple factors whereby presence itself is detrimental, investment levels are reduced, and investment from stepfathers are ineffective.

In Mexico, an estimated 50% of preschool children and 25% of school age children are anemic. Anemia is associated with a number of adverse health and economic consequences. The Mexican government implemented a social assistance program called Liconsa to enhance the nutritional status of low-income families by providing subsidized and fortified whole milk, especially to children under 12 years. While the efficiency and long term effectiveness of the program has been evaluated elsewhere, the study of spillovers from fortified Liconsa milk on outcomes of other household members has not been explored. In 2006, 74.8% beneficiaries of Liconsa were children and adolescents. However, evidence of spillovers to other household members is strong: 18.8% of adults aged 20-29 years, 21.8% of 30-39years and 40-49% of 20-29 years reported drinking liconsa milk the previous week. The main aim of the paper is to assess the potential externalities of this intervention on anemia (and labor market outcomes) for other household members and explore the consequences for the estimation of the effect of the project on the beneficiaries. To examine these assumptions, we analyzed individual level data from Mexico’s Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Nutricion in 2006 and assess the impact on three different groups using a fixed-effect model.