Older male children who lost both parents in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami went on to complete 1.9 fewer years of schooling than their peers, those who lost their fathers completed 1.5 fewer years and older girls who lost both parents were 58pc more likely than their peers to marry in the years after the disaster, says a team led by Ava Gail Cas of Catholic University of America. The tsunami had sweeping effects on human capital, particularly among orphaned 15-to-17-year-olds. About one-quarter of children who survived the tsunami were orphaned.

(Source: Demography)

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, November 23rd, 2015