Gender Differences in the Timing of Education Completion and Migration in Ghana

Justin Buszin, Brown University and Population Services International (PSI)

Using the human capital of migration theoretical framework, this paper explores the long-term socioeconomic consequences of delaying migration after education completion, and how gender conditions this relationship. I hypothesize that women face greater expectations than men to repay education debt to their family through housework. This delays their migration to improve earning potential, which leads educated women to be socioeconomically worse off than educated men. The 2002 and 2004 Population and Environment Surveys of the Central Region of Ghana collected life history calendar data for 4300 individuals, which is analyzed using discrete time-logit models to observe characteristics of movers versus non-movers, and whether a delay in education leads to lower socioeconomic status. Results show that married, educated women take longer to migrate compared to men but educated single women do not significantly differ from educated single men. A delay in education leads to lower socioeconomic status later in one’s life.