Family structure and school attendance among children 13-16 in Argentina and Panama

This paper examines the relative likelihood of an adolescent 13-16 being in school by his or her family situation in two Latin American countries, Arg entina and Panama. Both countries had moderate levels of school attendance but rather different socioeconomic conditions and marital patterns. Family situations included parents who were unmarried, consensually married or for mally married, and family households that were single-parent, simple two-he aded or complex. Children's living arrangements were diverse and differed b etween countries, but despite this, the study finds that children living in formally-married two-parent simple family households in both countries wer e most likely to still be in school after controlling for a number of facto rs thought to affect school attendance. The finding could inform debates ab out the nature of social reproduction under different family regimes.