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Bullying is one of the most common forms of aggression experienced by school-aged youth, yet research is sparse in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) where cultural and contextual factors may influence victimization dynamics. We aimed to examine correlates of victimization and the prevalence of specific victimizing behaviors among youth in four LMIC. Data were included from 3,536 youth collected as part of the ongoing Young Lives Study cohorts in Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh), Peru, and Vietnam who reported frequency of past-year exposure to nine bullying behaviors at age 15. We calculated both total victimization scores and subtype victimization scores (physical, verbal, relational, and property) by summing the frequencies of experiencing each behavior and used hurdle modeling to examine, separately by country, associations between three demographic correlates (sex, urban/rural setting, and school enrollment) and both total and subtype victimization scores, adjusting for clustered sampling. Mean past-year victimization scores were 11.1 in Ethiopia, 13.4 in India, 14.9 in Peru, and 12.0 in Vietnam, indicating that the average youth in Ethiopia reported two victimization experiences in the past year, up to nearly six in Peru. With the exception of Peru, direct victimization was higher among boys compared with girls, whereas relational victimization was not associated with sex. Physical bullying was less common than other forms of bullying in Ethiopia, Peru, and Vietnam but had a similar frequency as other forms in India. The different patterns in victimization experiences across the samples suggest that culture and/or context may influence victimization dynamics and highlights the need to better understand patterns and variation of bullying victimization in LMIC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We investigate whether there are racial and ethnic disparities in children's education in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Viet Nam. We find that in all the four countries, and especially in Viet Nam, children from small ethnic groups have lower education attainment and cognitive ability. The gap in educational attainment and cognitive ability among ethnic children is larger than the gap in school enrolment, and the gap tends to be wider for older children. Using the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, we find that the main contribution to the gap in education between children from small ethnic groups and large ethnic groups in India, Peru and Viet Nam is the difference in endowments (i.e., characteristics of children and their families) rather than the difference in the coefficients of endowments. However, in Ethiopia, the difference in the coefficients contributes more than the difference in endowments to the gap in education. Child health, parental education, household expenditure and an urban environment are important variables for explaining the gap in education between children from small and large ethnic groups. Highlights • Small ethnic group children have lower education attainment in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Viet Nam. • The gap in cognitive ability among ethnic children is larger than the gap in school enrolment. • The main contribution to the gap in education among ethnic children is the difference in endowments. • Child health, parental education, and welfare level are important determinants of child education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an original contribution concerning the influence of microcredit on child school dropout rates in the poorest regions in Vietnam. Two crucial empirical problems for the linkage between microfinance and children's education are sample selection bias and the endogeneity of microcredit. Using a combination of the instrumental variable method and the Heckman approach to overcome these problems, the finding is that microcredit increases the opportunity for households to send their children to school through two main channels—increasing household per capita income and moving households out of poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper was aimed to estimate how cash transfer to children could help increase access to education and health services as well as to reduce their poverty. To pursue these objectives, we first applied fixed-effect regression models with a panel data from Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey (VHLSS) in 2010 and 2012, and then used the predicted results to simulate how welfare indicators would have been changed if children were provided benefits at different levels. We found that cash transfers would have a positive effect on school enrolment and poverty. However, cash transfers would have no significant effects on both impatient admissions and outpatient visits as well as out-of-pocket spending on health care, but a significant effect on the probability of having health insurance. From these findings, we proposed some policy recommendations such as promoting cash transfer program for more vulnerable groups of children would provide opportunities for them to further reduce poverty and increase access to education and health. More importantly, the research emphasized that quality of services to be provided along with cash transfers should also be guaranteed, so as to make sure that the current benefits will be fully translated into socio-economic development of Viet Nam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from Vietnam Household and Living Standard Surveys in 2006 and 2008, this study estimates the effect of the receipt of international remittances and internal remittances on education, labor and healthcare utilization of children and adolescents in Vietnam. It shows that there are no statistically significant effects of receipt of remittances on school enrolment as well as child labor of children and adolescents. However, receiving international remittances helps children increase the number of completed grades by around 2% of the average completed grade for children. Both international and internal remittances are positively associated with the number of outpatient health care visits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We examine the impact of public policy on the children's enrollment rate in Vietnam. • We find significant impacts of the tuition fee reduction and education subsidy. • The school enrollment rate of beneficiary children is 5 percentage points higher. • The effect is stronger for poor and ethnic minority children. This paper examines the impact of two education incentive policies including tuition fee reduction and education subsidy on secondary-school enrollment of children in Vietnam. Using Vietnam Household Living Standard Surveys during the 2006–2018 period, we find that both policies significantly increase the school enrollment rate of children. The effect of these policies varies across different groups of children with a greater effect on those from ethnic minority groups, rural areas, poor and low-income households. Our findings suggest that these education incentive programs are an effective way to encourage children to enroll school, especially in low- and middle-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Early birth registration, childhood care, and education are essential rights for children and are important for their development and education. This study investigates changes and socioeconomic inequalities in early birth registration and indicators of care and education in children aged under 5 years in Vietnam., Design: The analyses reported here used data from the Vietnam Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) in 2006 and 2011. The sample sizes in 2006 and 2011 were 2,680 and 3,678 for children under 5 years of age. Four indicators of childcare and preschool education were measured: birth registration, possession of books, preschool education attendance, and parental support for early childhood education. The concentration index (CI) was used to measure inequalities in gender, maternal education, geographical area, place of residence, ethnicity, and household wealth., Results: There were some improvements in birth registration (86.4% in 2006; 93.8% in 2011), preschool education attendance (57.1% in 2006; 71.9% in 2011), and parental support for early childhood education (68.9 and 76.8%, respectively). However, the possession of books was lower (24.7% in 2006; 19.6% in 2011) and became more unequal over time (i.e. CI=0.370 in 2006; CI=0.443 in 2011 in wealth inequality). Inequalities in the care and education of children were still persistent. The largest inequalities were for household wealth and rural versus urban areas., Conclusion: Although there have been some improvements in this area, inequalities still exist. Policy efforts in Vietnam should be directed towards closing the gap between different socioeconomic groups for the care and education of children under 5 years old.