sustainable development 20 years on from the ... - José Eli da Veiga

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Box III.3
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHILDHOOD LIVING
CONDITIONS AND EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) carried out an empirical analysis in the urban areas of 17 Latin American countries of the relationship
between habitability (overcrowding, housing materials and access to drinking water and sanitation) and being an
overage student within the population aged 13 to 17, meaning a difference of two or more <strong>years</strong> between <strong>years</strong> of
education and <strong>years</strong> that should have been completed for the chronological age based on a standard educational
trajectory, whether because the student left the education system prematurely, repeated a year, or for both reasons.
The results indicate that, among urban Latin American residents, poor housing conditions may be more closely
correlated to childhood educational attainment than economic deprivation (Katzman, <strong>20</strong>11).
The most effective policies for improving educational attainment are therefore those that endeavour to raise
the average income of low-income households as well as reduce habitability deficiencies. Overcrowding is a serious
problem and clearly affects school performance; studies in many countries have shown that this is at least as
important as poverty and the home educational environment.
The Second Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (SERCE) on mathematics scores for sixthgraders
in 17 countries of the region confirm this theory. Overcrowding is associated with poorer mathematics
scores, irrespective of socioeconomic level. Similar results are also obtained in relation to access to drinking water,
sanitation and the flooring material used in the home (see figure below).
LATIN AMERICA (17 COUNTRIES): URBAN SIXTH-GRADERS WHO PERFORM WELL IN MATHEMATICS
TESTS (III AND IV), BY TYPE OF FLOORING IN THE HOME AND HOUSEHOLD SOCIOECONOMIC LEVEL
(Percentages)
70
60
57.8
50
40
38.8
37.4
42.2
30
26.5
<strong>20</strong>
22.2
<strong>20</strong>.1
22.4
10
0
Low Medium High Total
Dwelling with non-earth floor
Dwelling with earth floor
Living conditions during childhood may therefore be a major contributory factor to the unequal acquisition
of knowledge and educational credits, which are key to accessing opportunities for future well-being. This
substantiates the usefulness of multi-dimensional analysis of poverty where this may enrich the understanding of
mechanisms that are partly responsible for perpetuating these situations in childhood (ECLAC/UNICEF, <strong>20</strong>10). The
findings also call for examination of whether the effectiveness of education policies depends on formulating
effective policies on housing and water and sanitation infrastructure.
Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)/United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF),
Pobreza infantil en América Latina y el Caribe (LC/R.2168), Santiago, Chile, <strong>20</strong>10; Rubén Kaztman, “Infancia en
América Latina: Privaciones habitacionales y desarrollo de capital humano”, Project document, No. 431 (LC/W.431),
Santiago, Chile, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), <strong>20</strong>10.