Effects of Education on Determinants of High Desired Fertility: Evidence from Ugandan VillagesMichal Bauer,
Julie Chytilova and
Pavel Streblov ()
AUCO Czech Economic Review, 2007, vol. 1, issue 3, pages 286-301 Abstract: High desired fertility is an important factor contributing to the population explosion in sub-Saharan Africa. On a broad sample of 910 respondents from rural areas of Uganda this paper assesses the impact of health risks, economic contributions from children, traditional community institutions and unequal position of women on desired fertility levels. The paper further scrutinizes how these determinants are affected by education. The results show that fear of disease and involvement in traditional clan institutions increase the desired number of children. Interestingly, these effects can be remarkably mitigated through education, which improves individual health prevention as well as reduces the influence of clans. The economic incentives for having children seem to be less significant than other factors. In addition, a very significant difference in desired fertility between men and women emerges; nevertheless, education leads to both reduction and convergence of their desired fertility levels. All these findings suggest that education stimulates a complex change in fertility preferences and underline the importance of education as an efficient tool for reducing rapid population growth. Keywords: fertility; education; development; demography (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article More articles in AUCO Czech Economic Review from Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
Econpapers is hosted by the
Swedish Business School at Örebro University.