Young Women Returning to School in Sub-Saharan Africa During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

School closures during the COVID-19 pandemic have severely affected the lives of young people globally. This paper presents evidence on the return of young women to school in six sub-Saharan African countries during the pandemic. The analysis of representative survey data on women aged 15-25 indicates that in countries where restrictions on schools have been short-lived, both school re-opening and return to school have occurred broadly, with little variation across age, while female school attendance remains strongly depressed below pre-pandemic levels in countries where restrictions were still in place. Both women whose schools have remained closed and women who have already returned to school are less likely to have given birth or supplied labor during the pandemic than women who had already left school prior to COVID- 19, while women who have not returned to school exhibit a significantly higher birth rate than the latter. Further, women who have not returned to school are less likely to perform independent and paid work than women who had already left school prior to COVID-19, while they are just as likely to supply low-quality labor, indicating labor market scarring effects among the non-returning women.