The HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to have a devastating impact, particularly on the lives of sub‐
Saharan African children. In addition to reversing the downward secular trend in infant and child
mortality, HIV/AIDS has orphaned millions of children. Substantial progress has been made in reducing
mother‐to‐child transmission, butrates of orphanhood continue to climb despite increased availability
of antiretroviral therapy. UNAIDS estimates that in sub‐Saharan Africa in 2014, 11 million children
under the age of 18 had lost one or both of their parents to AIDS (UNAIDS 2016).  
Recent empirical evidence suggests that children in sub‐Saharan Africa who have suffered parental
loss are at risk of poorer educational outcomes (Beegle, de Weerdt and Dercon 2006; Bicego, Bicego
et al 2003; Case, Paxson and Ableidinger 2004; Evans and Miguel 2007; Guarcello et al. 2004; Monasch
and Boerma 2004; Ardington and Leibbrandt 2010; Case and Ardington 2006; Ardington 2009). In
South Africa, there are significant differences in the impact of a mother and a father’s death. The loss
of a child’s mother is a strong predictor of poor schooling outcomes, while the loss of a child’s father
is a significant correlate of poor household socioeconomic status. In two localised longitudinal studies,
Case and Ardington (2006) and Ardington and Leibbrandt (2009) use the timing of mothers’ deaths
relative to children’s educational shortfalls to argue that mothers’ deaths have a causal effect on
children’s education. They cannot, however, answer the question of why children whose mothers
have died fall behind in school.
More research is needed to understand the multiple potential pathways through which this causal
effect of parental death on a child’s schooling operates. A growing body of research finds evidence of
a strong association between nutritional status and educational outcomes in developing countries
(Glewwe and Jacoby 1995; Mendez and Adair 1999; Glewwe, Jacoby and King 2001; Alderman et al.
2001Alderman, Hoddinott and Kinsey 2006; Yamauchi 2008; Ksoll 2007; Glewwe and Miguel 2008). It
is possible that parental death impacts negatively on the health and nutritional status of children,
thereby reducing their enrollment, attendance and ability to learn at school.