Social Vulnerability, School Desertion and Retardation in Gran Córdoba (Argentina) 2001

GONZÁLEZ, LEANDRO - PELÁEZ, ENRIQUE - HERRERO, VERÓNICA - CELTON, DORA

The 4th International Conference On Population Geographies

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Lugar: Hong Kong; Año: 2007; p. 117 - 120

Social vulnerability can be defined on the grounds of the absence of assets of individuals and households, an absence that comprises physical, human and social capital (Kaztman, 2000). This paper focuses on a descriptive research about the spatial distribution of social vulnerability in the city of Córdoba (Argentina), and it also analyzes its association with school desertion and retardation in the under-15 - years old population. Data provided by the National Census (2001) are here used through the analysis of the main components and clusters for 85 fractions of the census. After this phase, linear regression models are created, between factors belonging to social vulnerability and school desertion and retardation rates. Census information allows to find vulnerability patterns, identified as precarious dwellings, absence of human capital, low social integration households and households composed or headed by adolescent female. Agglomerates derived from these factors reflect a spatial distribution in the shape of irregular rings, where social vulnerability grows from the central area towards the periphery. This geographical distribution coincides with the panorama of school retardation but not with the panorama of school desertion, probably due to its low incidence. Social vulnerability can be defined on the grounds of the absence of assets of individuals and households, an absence that comprises physical, human and social capital (Kaztman, 2000). This paper focuses on a descriptive research about the spatial distribution of social vulnerability in the city of Córdoba (Argentina), and it also analyzes its association with school desertion and retardation in the under-15 - years old population. Data provided by the National Census (2001) are here used through the analysis of the main components and clusters for 85 fractions of the census. After this phase, linear regression models are created, between factors belonging to social vulnerability and school desertion and retardation rates. Census information allows to find vulnerability patterns, identified as precarious dwellings, absence of human capital, low social integration households and households composed or headed by adolescent female. Agglomerates derived from these factors reflect a spatial distribution in the shape of irregular rings, where social vulnerability grows from the central area towards the periphery. This geographical distribution coincides with the panorama of school retardation but not with the panorama of school desertion, probably due to its low incidence. When analyzing the entailment between social vulnerability and educational risks, the association with desertion is not clearly established, whereas the entailment between social vulnerability and school retardation is quite evident. As a result of the latter, it can be argued that the most vulnerable households host children with school retardation, who are prone to reproduce households with social vulnerability. The most significant relationship can be seen in households with human capital deficiencies. A second strong entailment emerges when taking into account the deficit of physical capital.