Beyond the Surface: An Empirical Analysis of Multidimensional Child Poverty in Zambia

Abstract: Zambia has one of the highest levels of child poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, child poverty remains an understudied area and the determinants thereof are not well understood. This dissertation aims to bridge this gap by identifying the determinants of multidimensional child poverty through the estimation of a probit model using LCMS 2015 data. The findings of this study highlight several key determinants that significantly impact the probability of a child experiencing poverty in Zambia. Specifically, young male children have a higher likelihood of experiencing child poverty. Furthermore, children living in a household headed by a young or old individual engaged in self-employment with a low educational level are more prone to child poverty. The results also show that residing in rural areas and having a mother with limited education contribute significantly to increased child poverty. Additionally, this dissertation adds to the literature by examining the causal effect of rural-to-urban migration on child poverty in the short term. The Propensity Score Matching analysis reveals that rural-to-urban migration significantly decreases the probability of a child being poor by over 20 percentage points on average. This dissertation emphasizes the need for well-targeted policies fighting multidimensional child poverty in rural Zambia. Even though rural-to-urban migration is one potential solution to escape poverty, it increases the pressure on urban infrastructures. Therefore, increased investments in the local development of rural areas are needed.