When women head the houehold: Measuring Educational Gaps among Daughters in Rwanda after the 1999 Inheritance Reform
(2026) EKHS42 20261Department of Economic History
- Abstract
- In post-genocide Rwanda, women’s claims to land, inheritance and household resources became central to processes of family and institutional reconstruction. Law No. 22/99, adopted in 1999, strengthened women’s formal inheritance and property rights in a context where female-headed households had become more visible and where land remained a key source of household welfare. Against this background, this thesis examines whether the education gap between daughters in female- and male-headed households changed during the period surrounding the reform. Using repeated cross-sectional data from the Rwanda Demographic and Health Surveys for 1992, 2000, 2005 and 2010, the analysis focuses on daughters of the household and uses primary school... (More)
- In post-genocide Rwanda, women’s claims to land, inheritance and household resources became central to processes of family and institutional reconstruction. Law No. 22/99, adopted in 1999, strengthened women’s formal inheritance and property rights in a context where female-headed households had become more visible and where land remained a key source of household welfare. Against this background, this thesis examines whether the education gap between daughters in female- and male-headed households changed during the period surrounding the reform. Using repeated cross-sectional data from the Rwanda Demographic and Health Surveys for 1992, 2000, 2005 and 2010, the analysis focuses on daughters of the household and uses primary school completion as the main outcome. A Linear Probability Model, complemented by Entropy Balancing, assess whether the main pattern depends on household type, model specification or sample definition. Around the 2000 benchmark, daughters in female-headed households were less likely to have completed primary education than daughters in male-headed households. Between 2000 and 2005, however, the female-headship gap narrowed significantly, while no clear additional narrowing appears between 2005 and 2010. Heterogeneity results suggest that the narrowing was not confined to widowed, non-widowed, de jure or de facto female-headed households. The thesis provides descriptive evidence that the educational disadvantage associated with female headship became smaller during the early post-reform period. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9247508
- author
- Garcia Garcia, Sandra Maria LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- EKHS42 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- language
- English
- id
- 9247508
- date added to LUP
- 2026-09-07 13:55:30
- date last changed
- 2026-09-07 13:55:30
@misc{9247508,
abstract = {{In post-genocide Rwanda, women’s claims to land, inheritance and household resources became central to processes of family and institutional reconstruction. Law No. 22/99, adopted in 1999, strengthened women’s formal inheritance and property rights in a context where female-headed households had become more visible and where land remained a key source of household welfare. Against this background, this thesis examines whether the education gap between daughters in female- and male-headed households changed during the period surrounding the reform. Using repeated cross-sectional data from the Rwanda Demographic and Health Surveys for 1992, 2000, 2005 and 2010, the analysis focuses on daughters of the household and uses primary school completion as the main outcome. A Linear Probability Model, complemented by Entropy Balancing, assess whether the main pattern depends on household type, model specification or sample definition. Around the 2000 benchmark, daughters in female-headed households were less likely to have completed primary education than daughters in male-headed households. Between 2000 and 2005, however, the female-headship gap narrowed significantly, while no clear additional narrowing appears between 2005 and 2010. Heterogeneity results suggest that the narrowing was not confined to widowed, non-widowed, de jure or de facto female-headed households. The thesis provides descriptive evidence that the educational disadvantage associated with female headship became smaller during the early post-reform period.}},
author = {{Garcia Garcia, Sandra Maria}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{When women head the houehold: Measuring Educational Gaps among Daughters in Rwanda after the 1999 Inheritance Reform}},
year = {{2026}},
}