Paternity Uncertainty or Male Dominance? Paternal versus Maternal Grandmothers’ Contribution to Children’s Schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Evolutionary theory predicts grandmothers to invest more in their daughter’s children than in their son’s children, because of the higher likelihood of being genetically related to their daughter’s children. At the same time, most African cultures are characterized by male dominance, which might make it more profitable to invest in sons than in daughters. Here, the relative importance of paternal versus maternal grandmothers for children’s schooling is studied as well as how this grandmother gender effect varies across circumstances. Methods The importance of paternal versus maternal grandmothers for children’s schooling is studied using multilevel logistic regression analysis on data for 896,073 children aged 7–15, living in 33 sub-Saharan African countries. We control for demographic and socio-economic factors at household and context level and study the role of circumstances using interaction analysis. Results Children living with a paternal grandmother have a higher chance of being in school than children living with a maternal grandmother. This effect is larger for boys, when the father is higher educated and when a grandfather is present. It is reduced when mother’s education level is higher. Conclusions Children living with a paternal grandmother have better schooling outcomes relative to those living with a maternal grandmother. This advantage of living with a paternal grandmother is stronger for boys and when the father is higher educated. Male dominance as a cultural factor seems to be more important for grandmother’s investments than certainty about genetic relatedness. Only a higher education level of the mother seems to counterbalance this tendency to a certain extent.