Violence against children (VAC) has profound and lasting effects on physical and emotional well-being, educational outcomes, and economic productivity. In low- and middle-income countries such as the Philippines, limited longitudinal data hinders researchers from examining the medium- and long-term effects of early exposure to violence across a range of well-being outcomes. In this paper, we describe the magnitude of parental violence in the Philippines and estimate its lasting effects on school enrollment and academic performance in mathematics, reading, and science among young Filipino adolescents using longitudinal data. We find, after controlling for child demographic, cognitive, health, academic, and household socioeconomic factors, that young Filipino adolescents who experience parental violence at the age of 10 (with a 39.5% prevalence) have 52-57% lower odds of attending school by age 14 compared to their unexposed peers. When analyzed by sex, boys and girls exposed to parental violence at the age of 10 were 48% and 66% less likely, respectively, to be enrolled by age 14. Although academic performance in math, reading, and science suggests a negative trend among exposed adolescents, associations were not statistically significant. Our study highlights how early exposure to parental violence may disrupt school participation. While our evidence on academic performance suggests an adverse impact, it is less conclusive. These findings align with child development theories that highlight how violence at home undermines the behavior and overall well-being of children, which in turn leads to poor educational outcomes. Our findings suggest the need for sustained implementation and expansion of nationwide, multi-sectoral early interventions to prevent violence in the home and support the long-term academic development and the well-being of Filipino learners. Also, strengthening data collection through improved measures of violence and academic performance will better elucidate the relationship between early violence exposure and educational outcomes.
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