Abstract
Background: School dropout rates, as well as early marriages and pregnancies, are high among adolescent girls in rural Zambia. In the quest to fight this, the Research Initiative to Support the Empowerment of girls (RISE) trial has been providing cash transfers and community dialogues to adolescent girls in rural Zambia. The overall goal of the study was to establish the effects of cash transfers on adolescent girls’ school dropout rates in selected provinces of Zambia. Methods: The study was nested in the RISE trial which is a cluster randomized trial conducted in Central and Southern provinces of Zambia. A total of 3500 adolescent girls were included in the study. Random intercepts model was used to model the individual effects estimates, taking account of the dependency that was likely to occur due to the repeated measurements and clustering in the study. Results: Girls who were married or cohabiting and girls who had given birth, were significantly less likely to be in school (OR=0.004, 95% CI {0.001-0.02}, p-value=<0.0001) and (OR=0.003, 95% CI {0.02-0.04}, p-value=<0.0001) respectively. Consistently receiving cash transfers increased the chance of a girl being in school (OR=8.51, 95% CI {4.50-16.08}, p-value=<0.0001). There was an indication that the combined intervention arm had a reduced chance of girls being in school, however, we could not rule out chance finding (OR=0.89, 95% CI {0.59-1.36}, p=0.606). Conclusion: The study found that marriage or cohabiting and giving birth whilst in school reduce the chances of the girl continuing schooling. No significant association could be attributed to the type of intervention, However, consistent receipt of cash transfers was shown to be a protective factor of school dropout rates in the study.
Highlights
Pregnancy is often associated with early marriage and school dropout, and poverty contributes to all three
Dropping out of primary school can lead to adolescent girls indulging in risky sexual behaviour, which could lead to early pregnancies and early marriages [12]
The findings in this study suggest that there is no sufficient evidence of a difference in school dropouts among adolescent girls in the economic arm and the combined intervention arm
Summary
Pregnancy is often associated with early marriage and school dropout, and poverty contributes to all three. Observational studies from low-income countries indicate that young women who quit school early are more likely to marry and become pregnant earlier than those who stay in school [1, 2]. In Low Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) enrolment at the secondary level is much lower than at the primary level in most, for girls. This may be due to limited availability of school places and longer distances to school, higher fees, or to early marriage or pregnancy. As well as early marriages and pregnancies, are high among adolescent girls in rural Zambia. The overall goal of the study was to establish the effects of cash transfers on adolescent girls’ school dropout rates in selected provinces of Zambia
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