Elsa Gautrain

Child fostering practice and intergenerational support inside Ghanaian households

Discussants: Adrien Gosselin-Pali and Florent Bresson

Abstract

Child fostering within the household networks is a common practice in Ghana, which can have a significant impact on children's living conditions. We provide evidence that the relative well-being of foster Ghanaian children depends mainly on the counterfactual used, i.e., host siblings, non-foster siblings, other children with co-resident parents. Even if foster children have a lower probability of being enrolled at school and working more than their host siblings, this is not the case for comparing the former to their non-foster siblings. This paper also documents the heterogeneity of children's well-being outcomes with respect to their primary caregiver. The negative impact of fostering on education and child work is driven by caregivers who are not the grandparents. By analyzing the intra-household allocation of expenses, our results suggest that grandparenting is more favorable to foster children than other fostering arrangements. Being cared for by grandparents does not worsen children's living conditions, which can be explained in part by inter-household money transfers.