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There is scant evidence on the impact of school-entry age in lower-income countries. We
assess the impact of school starting age on human capital development in Lesotho, exploiting
an enrollment age threshold. Children who start primary school at an older age overcome
initial skill deficits as they progress through school. They are more likely to stay in school,
spend fewer hours on economic and household activities, and obtain substantially higher
total years of schooling. In adulthood, they are more likely to have professional occupations
and less likely to be married or have children as teenagers, become HIV-infected (men), and
experience the death of a child (women).
