Child Living Conditions and Orphanhood Status in Uganda: an Extension of the Application of the Intrinsic Value Approach to Child Poverty Measurement

Association between orphanhood status and a child’s development outcomes is contested among authors. The contestation mainly focusses on the differences between orphans and non-orphans based on single indicators. However, focusing on single indicators such as education does not account for the multidimensional nature of living conditions of children as per here and now. In this study Child Living Conditions which take on many dimensions are computed using the intrinsic value approach. We tested the hypothesis that the average living conditions of orphans were less than the average living conditions of non-orphans in Uganda in 2011. Uganda Demographic and Health Survey data for 2011 was analysed using Multilevel mixed effects regression to achieve the objectives. Although some differences between orphans and non-orphans were observed, the margin was small. Notably the average conditions of children who lived in female headed households was less than for children in male headed households, less for rural than urban children and less for children in distant regions than for children in Kampala and the central region. The major factors which strongly associated with the variation in child living conditions were household headship, place of residence and regional differences. Thus rather than emphasizing the association between orphanhood or other child characteristics, and child living conditions, the conditions that perpetuate the low intrinsic value conditions for all children should be targeted