Understanding household education expenditure in Sudan: do poor and rural households spend less on education?

Abstract

This paper examines the factors that influence households’ expenditure on education in Sudan, using the National Baseline Household Survey (NBHS) data (2009) for national, urban and rural levels. The results of Tobit model indicate that household income, head education, head age, household size, number of school-age children and residing in urban areas are the most significant factors affecting education expenditure. Interestingly, the results show that the income elasticity of education in urban sample model is greater than that of rural model, implying that households residing in urban areas are likely to spend more on education. In addition, the effect of household income is found to be positive and significant in the highest income quintile. Overall, the results revealed that households with higher income, whose heads are educated and reside in urban areas tends to spend more on education compared to poor and rural households. These results signify the lack of inter-generational educational and income mobility in Sudan, implying that children from poor households are caught permanently in low income and educational levels, and are not able to “catch up” their peers in high income families.

Keywords: Education Expenditure, Tobit models, Sudan