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Child fostering in Senegal

Author

Listed:
  • Simon Beck
  • Philippe de Vreyer

    (DIAL - Développement, institutions et analyses de long terme)

  • Sylvie Lambert

    (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Karine Marazyan

    (IEDES - Instutut d'Études du Développement de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)

  • Abla Safir

    (LEA - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, CREST - Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - X - École polytechnique - ENSAE Paris - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

Abstract

This paper is about child fostering in Senegal, a practice widespread in Sub-Saharan Africa whereby children are temporarily sent to live with a host family. Using a rich household survey conducted in Senegal in 2006-7, the paper aims at describing the selection into fostering of both households and children and at examining the impact of fostering on the well-being of children (host, foster- and siblings left behind) measured through their school enrollment, labour and domestic work. Results suggest a wide heterogeneity among foster children, inducing differences in their well-being. The main sources of such heterogeneity come from the child's gender and his duration of stay in the host household. Whether the fostering has been formally arranged between parents also seems to matter. Results are reassuring regarding the well-being of fostered children relative to their host siblings, even if they might not fare as well as children not involved in fostering. On average, education and labour outcomes of foster children are not different from those of their host siblings. In particular, results do not support the idea that fostered girls might be overloaded with domestic tasks: they do not seem to spend more time at it than their host sisters.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Beck & Philippe de Vreyer & Sylvie Lambert & Karine Marazyan & Abla Safir, 2015. "Child fostering in Senegal," Post-Print halshs-01379304, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01379304
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Beck, Simon & De Vreyer, Philippe & Lambert, Sylvie & Marazyan, Karine & Safir, Abla, 2014. "Child Fostering in Senegal," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 1403, CEPREMAP.
    2. Philippe Devreyer & Abla Safir & Momar B. Sylla & Sylvie Lambert, 2008. "Pauvreté et Structure Familiale: Pourquoi une nouvelle enquête ?," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-00824780, HAL.
    3. Richard Akresh, 2009. "Flexibility of Household Structure: Child Fostering Decisions in Burkina Faso," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(4).
    4. Bledsoe, Caroline H. & Ewbank, Douglas C. & Isiugo-Abanihe, Uche C., 1988. "The effect of child fostering on feeding practices and access to health services in rural Sierra Leone," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 627-636, January.
    5. Karine Marazyan, 2015. "Resource Allocation in Extended Sibships: An Empirical Investigation for Senegal," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 24(3), pages 416-452.
    6. Akresh, Richard, 2004. "Adjusting Household Structure: School Enrollment Impacts of Child Fostering in Burkina Faso," Center Discussion Papers 28521, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.
    7. repec:dau:papers:123456789/10922 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Castle, Sarah E., 1995. "Child fostering and children's nutritional outcomes in rural Mali: The role of female status in directing child transfers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 679-693, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Isabelle Chort & Philippe De Vreyer & Thomas Zuber, 2017. "Gendered internal migration patterns in Senegal," Working Papers DT/2017/02, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    2. Libois, François & Somville, Vincent, 2018. "Fertility, household size and poverty in Nepal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 311-322.
    3. Sharley, Victoria & Leonard, Emmerentia & Ananias, Janetta & Ottaway, Heather, 2020. "Child fosterage in Namibia: The impact of informal care arrangements upon children’s health and welfare," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    4. Isabelle Chort & Philippe De Vreyer & Thomas Zuber, 2017. "Gendered internal migration patterns in Senegal," Working Papers DT/2017/02, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    5. De Vreyer, Philippe & Nilsson, Björn, 2019. "When solidarity fails: Heterogeneous effects on children from adult deaths in Senegalese households," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 73-94.
    6. Philippe De Vreyer & Sylvie Lambert, 2021. "Inequality, Poverty, and the Intra-Household Allocation of Consumption in Senegal," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 35(2), pages 414-435.
    7. Beck, Simon & De Vreyer, Philippe & Lambert, Sylvie & Marazyan, Karine & Safir, Abla, 2014. "Child Fostering in Senegal," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 1403, CEPREMAP.
    8. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00933975 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Crespin-Boucaud, Juliette & Hotte, Rozenn, 2021. "Parental divorces and children’s educational outcomes in Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    10. Lambert, Sylvie & Ravallion, Martin & van de Walle, Dominique, 2014. "Intergenerational mobility and interpersonal inequality in an African economy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 327-344.
    11. Badaoui, Eliane & Mangiavacchi, Lucia, 2022. "Assessing the impact of fostering on children’s outcomes in Niger," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    12. El Badaoui, Eliane & Mangiavacchi, Lucia, 2018. "Fostering, Child Welfare, and Ethnic Cultural Values," IZA Discussion Papers 11691, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Milazzo, Annamaria, 2014. "Son preference, fertility and family structure : evidence from reproductive behavior among Nigerian women," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6869, The World Bank.
    14. Ariyo, Esther & Mortelmans, Dimitri & Wouters, Edwin, 2019. "The African child in kinship care: A systematic review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 178-187.
    15. Sylvie Lambert & Martin Ravallion & Dominique van de Walle, 2011. "Is It What You Inherited Or What You Learnt?: Intergenerational linkage and interpersonal inequality in Senegal," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2011-062, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    16. Eric V. Edmonds & Maheshwor Shrestha, 2013. "Independent child labor migrants," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 5, pages 98-120, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Christian Kweku Darko & Fiona Carmichael, 2020. "Education of Biological and Fostered Children in Ghana: The Influence of Relationships with the Household Head and Household Structure," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 487-504, May.
    18. Datzberger, Simone & Parkes, Jenny & Bhatia, Amiya & Nagawa, Rehema & Kasidi, Joan Ritar & Musenze, Brian Junior & Devries, Karen, 2024. "Young people’s experiences of informal kinship care in Luwero, Uganda," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    19. Lambert, Sylvie & van de Walle, Dominique, 2011. "Is It What You Inherited Or What You Learnt?," WIDER Working Paper Series 062, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    20. Sylvie Lambert & Philippe De Vreyer, 2017. "By ignoring intra-household inequality do we underestimate the extent of poverty?," Working Papers DT/2017/05, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).

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    Keywords

    Child fostering; Senegal;

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