Long-Term Impacts of Orphanhood on Education Attainments and Land Inheritance among Adults in Rural Kenya

Takashi Yamano, Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development

Few studies have investigated the impacts of orphan status into adulthood. This paper estimates the impacts of past orphan status into adulthood by using a rural household survey in Kenya in 2004. We identify past orphan status by asking ages of household members when they lost parents, if they have. We compare two stock variables that parents provide to their children in rural areas, education and land, between former orphans and non-orphans. Among men aged 20-60, we find that former maternal orphans have lower school attainments and sizes of inherited land than former non-orphans. This relationship does not hold among former paternal orphans. The results of this study have policy implications for current orphans.