The results also highlight the value

The results also highlight the value of thinking about gender-based educational disparities in broader terms than school participation alone. In many low-income contexts, the rapid increase in enrollment has been at the expense of school quality (Pritchett, 2013), and, compared to boys, girls’ school performance appears to be more adversely affected by low-quality schools (Grant, Soler-Hampejsek, Mensch, & Hewett, 2011). In Malawi, compared to boys, girls are more likely to leave low-quality school experiences with weaker literacy and numeracy skills that cotransporter are more vulnerable to being lost over time (Soler-Hampejsek et al., 2014). This suggests that although gender inequality in educational participation is declining in many African countries (Grant & Behrman, 2010), there is a need to address other forms of gender-based educational inequality, including the acquisition and retention of key skills like literacy. Beyond its substantive contributions, the study also illuminates the importance of complete data on women’s marital histories and circumstances surrounding premarital childbearing in low-income countries. In addition to the lack of complete marital history data, the DHS lacks information on the level of paternal involvement, reflecting a long-standing bias that fathers are less relevant to child well-being in low-income contexts. Select country-specific and qualitative studies show considerable variation in fathers’ level of involvement when parents are not married (Ingstad, 1994), with evidence that some men do fail to assume the financial and social responsibilities associated with fatherhood (Calvès, Cornwell, & Enyegue, 1996; Cohen & Bledsoe, 1993). However, increasing research from South Africa confirms that – even in the absence of marriage – fathers are involved in their children’s well-being (Clark, Cotton, & Marteleto, 2015; Madhavan, Richter, Norris, & Hosegood, 2014). More detailed data on fathers would not only allow future research to better understand premarital childbearing in the region, but may also illuminate why we see such large inequalities in the cost of premarital childbearing by mothers’ educational background.
Acknowledgement
Introduction In Australia and internationally, there is a renewed national policy focus on narrowing the difference in labour force participation between working age people with versus without disability. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that labour force participation rate for people with disability was 54% in 2009, versus 83% for those with no disability (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012). The gap in labour force participation for those with and without disability increased with age (e.g., people with a disability aged 55–64 had a 40% participation rate). People with sensory and speech impairment had the highest rate of labour market participation (54%, with a 7% unemployment rate), while those with psychological impairments had the poorest (29% participation rate, with 19% unemployment). Unsurprisingly, disabled persons with ‘employment restrictions’ had lower participation rates (46%) than those without restriction (71%). Still, one fifth of those with disability who were not working reported no employment restriction, meaning it was not disability per se that prevented them from being in paid employment. Overall, occupations were similar for those with and without disability; however there was some variation by impairment type. A third of those with intellectual impairments were employed in low skill jobs (such as cleaners), while 20% of those with sensory and speech impairments were in professional occupations. There has been little empirical research on the quality of the jobs held by people with disability despite the fact that Article 27 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which Australia is a signatory, recognises the rights of people with disability to work on an equal basis to others including the right “to just and favourable conditions of work, including equal opportunities and equal remuneration for work of equal value, safe and healthy working conditions” (United Nations, 2006). Such knowledge could inform the design of jobs, programmes, and policies to enhance the employment of people with disability and serve as a baseline from which to monitor progress in the area into the future. Filling this gap in knowledge is particularly relevant in the Australian context, where a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was legislated in 2012 (Productivity Commission, 2011) and is currently being pilot-tested in selected Australian locations, with rollout of the full scheme anticipated in mid-2016 (National Disability Insurance Scheme, 2015). The NDIS aims to enhance the individualised focus of support and services accessed by those with disabilities in order to better meet their personal goals and aspirations, which can include paid work or other community participation. The financial viability of the scheme is premised on narrowing the disability employment gap by increasing employment opportunities and the sustainability of employment for persons with disabilities. The quality of these employment opportunities will likely play a role in the effectiveness of uptake, and the sustainability of employment for people with disability.