Adolescent Employment and Schooling Outcomes in Malawi

Jinho Kim, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Monica J. Grant, University of Wisconsin-Madison

This study examines how adolescent employment affects schooling outcomes in Malawi. We use five waves of longitudinal data from the Malawi Schooling and Adolescent Survey to examine the effects of student employment on school dropout, grade repetition, absenteeism, school engagement, and academic skills. Given the gender bias in labor markets in less developed countries, we also explore the gender heterogeneity in the effects of different job types (paid or unpaid) on schooling outcomes. Using discrete time event history and case-crossover fixed effect regressions, we find evidence that male students are less likely to drop out of school when they are engaged in paid work and that female students are less likely to drop out when they are engaged in unpaid work. Employment is also significantly associated with higher grade repetition and absenteeism and lower levels of school engagement and math performance, but is not associated with changes in literacy.