On the Doorstep of Adulthood: Empowering Economic and Fertility Choices of Young Women

Lars Ivar Oppedal Berge, Kjetil Bjorvatn, Fortunata Makene, Linda Helgesson Sekei, Vincent Somville and Bertil Tungodden
Additional contact information
Lars Ivar Oppedal Berge: Norwegian School of Economics
Kjetil Bjorvatn: Norwegian School of Economics
Fortunata Makene: Economic and Social Research Foundation
Linda Helgesson Sekei: NIRAS

No 2022-035, Working Papers from Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group

Abstract: We report from a large-scale randomized controlled trial of women empowerment in Tanzania investigating how two different empowerment strategies, economic empowerment and reproductive health empowerment, shape the economic and fertility choices of young women when they transition into adulthood. The analysis builds on a rich data set (survey, experimental, and medical data) collected over more than five years. The economic empowerment reduces poverty, while teenage pregnancy increases with both economic and reproductive health empowerment. The increase in fertility comes from a positive income effect and by women entering earlier into a relationship. We also provide evidence of the importance of social norms and labor market flexibility in explaining the income and relationship effects on fertility. The findings provide new insights on the economics of fertility, and show the importance of a comprehensive approach to women empowerment.

Keywords: Tanzania; reproductive health; teenage pregnancy; positive income effect; Girl's Economic Empowerment: a Randomized Experiment in Tanzanian Schools (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 I32 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
Note: MIP
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Berge_ ... tep-of-adulthood.pdf First version, October 27, 2022 (application/pdf)

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Working Paper: On the Doorstep of Adulthood: Empowering Economic and Fertility Choices of Young Women (2022)
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