Child fostering has been documented over time in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. We know little, however, about how the prevalence of fostering differs across countries and broad regions, nor about how fostering—and its predictors—has changed within countries over time. To explore prevalence, trends, and predictors of child fostering, I leverage Demographic and Health Survey data of mothers of children aged 0–15 from 139 surveys in 36 countries collected between 1986 and 2019, representing all regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Results suggest striking variation in the prevalence of contemporary fostering, ranging from 11.5 percent of mothers in Burundi to 45.7 percent in Namibia in the most recent survey. Fostering trends have fluctuated over time in the majority of countries, but have remained broadly stable, with random and fixed-effects models indicating that the key correlates across and within countries over time have remained stable, with the prevalence of never-married motherhood playing a key role in fostering. Together, results suggest child fostering remains an enduring institution in family life throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

中文翻译：

---

一个持久的机构？撒哈拉以南非洲的儿童寄养

随着时间的推移，在撒哈拉以南非洲的许多地区都有关于儿童寄养的记录。然而，我们对寄养的流行程度在不同国家和广泛地区有何不同知之甚少，也不知道寄养及其预测因素如何随着时间的推移在国家内发生变化。为了探索儿童抚养的流行率、趋势和预测因素，我利用了 0-15 岁儿童母亲的人口和健康调查数据，这些数据来自 1986 年至 2019 年间在 36 个国家/地区收集的 139 项调查，代表撒哈拉以南非洲的所有地区。结果表明，在最近的调查中，当代寄养的流行率存在显着差异，从布隆迪的 11.5% 到纳米比亚的 45.7% 不等。大多数国家的培育趋势随着时间的推移而波动，但基本保持稳定，随机和固定效应模型表明，随着时间的推移，国家间和国家内部的关键相关性一直保持稳定，未婚母亲的普遍性在养育方面发挥了关键作用。总之，结果表明，在整个撒哈拉以南非洲地区，儿童抚养仍然是家庭生活中的一个持久机构。