Active conflict and access to education: Evidence from a series of conflict-related shocks in Yemen

Abstract

Using a high-frequency survey in Yemen, we demonstrate how school attendance responds to a series of conflict-related shocks. First, there are a number of plausibly exogenous events that significantly change the severity of violence but have limited impacts on school attendance. These events include the capture of the southern capital by secessionist forces, an unexpected partial ceasefire, and the capture of a governorate from the internationally recognized government by Houthi forces. Second, we demonstrate how shocks aside from living in close proximity to violence—institutional declines and macroeconomic shocks associated with the conflict—can have large impacts on school attendance and the ability to afford essential services. For example, a teacher strike associated with conflict-induced instiutional declines caused an immediate doubling of the share of households with poor school attendance. Combined, the results better illustrate some of the mechanisms by which conflict impedes school attendance and human capital formation, and the results have implications for education assistance being delivered in conflict settings.