Mothers Matter: Mother's Commitment to Children's Educational Outcomes in Ghana (thesis)

Abstract

In Ghana, with rates of economic inequality increasing, the government has made numerous strides to combat the socioeconomic, gender, and locational discrepancies of educational enrollment and completion to develop into a more equal nation. This paper looks specifically at preferences of adult members within traditional Ghanaian households and how the inclusion of mothers' preferences may impact the success of their children's primary school completion. In Ghana, children traditionally begin primary schooling at age six and complete primary education by age thirteen if they remain in school and perform satisfactorily. The central question explored in this thesis is: when the traditional male dominance of school financing is challenged, and mothers contribute to school expenses, are children's educational outcomes positively impacted? This paper finds that children who report shared parent funding have higher rates of primary school completion than children who report school expenses are funded solely by their father. This finding is true for both male and female children and is particularly strong for children who reside in households of lower welfare designations.