School enrollment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: family economic well-being and other influencing factors

Crispin Mabika, University of Kinshasa
David Shapiro, Pennsylvania State University

This paper examines school enrollment of youth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with a view to identifying the roles of family economic well-being, gender, place of residence, and other influences on the school enrollment of children. We use data from a 1999 survey that covered four provinces in the western portion of the country. The survey took place at the end of a disastrous decade for the DRC, during which economic crisis, civil disorder, and then civil war were all prevalent. Following an overview of the economic situation, the paper examines descriptive data on school enrollments of youth aged 6-24. We then report results of multivariate analyses of school enrollment of youth aged 6-14, controlling for family economic well-being, gender, and place of residence as well as a number of other factors that influence school enrollment. Separate analyses are provided by gender and by place of residence.