Education in Egypt: The Impact of Family Size and Composition

Rania Tfaily, University of Pennsylvania

Previous studies mainly in the U.S and to a much lesser extent in East and South East Asia found a negative association between family size and children’s educational attainment. This is of concern as disparities in education by family size have implications on social mobility and social stratification. In this paper, I extend the literature on sib-size and children’s education to Arab countries. With the exception of post-secondary education, enrollment of Arab students in pre-school, primary, preparatory, and secondary education lags behind not only the world average but also the average of developing countries (UNDP, 2003). Using Egypt Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS 2000), I examine how school enrollment, grade retention, and degree attainment of Egyptian children vary by age, gender, and region. In addition, I investigate the impact of child’s gender as well as family size and composition on children’s education.