The impact of family size on children’s school attendance in the Philippines

Abstract

Much empirical work has been done to determine the effects of family size on the education of children. Using a sample from the October 2006 Labor Force Survey, this paper attempts to determine the impact of family size on children’s education as measured by school attendance while considering socioeconomic factors. Results have shown that family size is significantly and negatively correlated with children’s school enrollment. Even after controlling for family size and birth-order effect, the negative effect of family size on children’s school attendance is still robust. We also find marginal differences as the characteristics of the parents and birth-order effect are taken into the analysis. These results confirm the quantity-quality theory introduced by Becker.

JEL classification: D1, J13, I20