Department of Economics
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Item Household structure and child outocmes: School enrolment and labour force participation of fostered children in Ghana(University of Ghana, 2015-04-17) Asuman, D.; Boakye-Yiadom, L.; Owoo, N.S.Children are an integral part of cultural and economic setting of households in Ghana. As such, their welfare outcomes are of a primary concern to the household and the development aspirations of the nation. Child fostering, the practice by which children reside in households where neither parent is present is pervasive in most societies of West Africa. Data from the sixth round of the Ghana Living Standard Survey suggest that approximately 14% of individuals less than sixteen years old reside in households where neither parent is present. The practice of fostering also has important implications for economic studies that have attempted to establish the determinants of child welfare outcomes in societies where the prevalence of fostering is high. This study examines the relationship between household structure and child outcomes by assessing the determinants of school enrolment and labour force participation of primary school age fostered children in Ghana. The study further examines the role of the biological relationship between a child and the caregiver and the school enrolment and market production decisions concerning fostered children. Applying the bivariate probit model to the sixth round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, the study finds that the personal characteristics of the fostered child (age, gender and relationship to the head of household) are significant determinants of welfare outcomes of fostered children. Characteristics of the head of household particularly the educational attainment of the household head is a strong predictor of the school and labour market outcomes of fostered children. Household demographic characteristics do not exhibit significant influences of the household decisions concerning fostered children; whilst an index of household income suggests that improvements in household income leads to better child outcomes. A key policy recommendation that arises from this study is the need for public programmes and policies that are targeted at improving the welfare outcomes of children taking into account the high mobility of children between households in GhanaItem Explaining regional fertility variations in Ghana(University of Ghana, 2015-04-17) Owoo, N.S.Ghana's current population is about 24.2 million, and given the current population growth rate of 2.4%, Ghana's population is expected to double in about 29 years. Although fertility rates in Ghana have declined from 6.4 to 4 children per woman between 1988 and 2008, this transition has not been homogenous across all regions of Ghana. Fertility rates remain higher in the northern regions of the country, compared to the southern regions. This paper examines explanations for the regional fertility variations- particularly the persistently high fertility rates observed in the northern regions-paying particular attention to the contribution of socioeconomic, cultural and religious factors, and fertility attitudes among women in explaining this phenomenon. In order to capture the most recent fertility variations in the country, the paper uses the most recent round (2008) of the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, and employs a Poisson multivariate estimation technique. Results indicate that regional differences in fertility are largely explained by socioeconomic factors such as urbanization, child mortality, education and household wealth. Cultural and religious factors also explain some of the observed variation between the Northern region and the southern regions. The inclusion of the duration of post-par tum amenorrhea and other proximate determinants in the model specifications significantly explains residual differences in fertility outcomes, particularly among the three northern regions. Findings therefore indicate a need for more region-specific policy targeting in the effort to reduce high fertility rates and ease the growth in population.