Impact of Food Price Rise on School Enrolment and Drop-out in the Poor and Vulnerable Households in Selected Areas of Bangladesh

This study has explored the impact of the rise in food prices on the education of children in the poor and vulnerable households in Bangladesh. Analyses of the survey data suggests that during early 2008 the prices of rice, pulses and edible oil increased tremendously which threatened the status of food security of these poor and vulnerable households in Bangladesh. As a result of the price hike, significant per cent of households were forced to cut their consumption of rice, pulses and edible oil. High dropout rates among the children of these households were observed because of the price hike of food items as most of the households could not continue to bear the expenses on their children’s education. The poor and vulnerable households under consideration employed several coping strategies to combat the adverse effects of food price hike, and ‘becoming more indebted by taking loans’ turned out to be the most widely used coping strategy.