Intrahousehold Decision Making and Fertility Choices in Rural Senegal and Uganda

Kaat Van Hoyweghen, Goedele Van den Broeck and Miet Maertens

Feminist Economics, 2025, vol. 31, issue 2, 186-223

Abstract: Feminist economic approaches have transformed mainstream economic analysis to better account for intrahousehold decision making. To quantify decision making, studies resort to self-reported survey-based measures, derived from questions directed to household members, or proxy-variable methods. This study uses a choice experiment, a stated preference method, implemented in rural Senegal and Uganda and specifically distinguishes between individual and household choices to analyze spouses’ preferences on fertility and child raising and calculate a decision-making coefficient. Findings show individual fertility preferences of men and women cannot substitute for household-level choices, and intrahousehold decision making concerning fertility and child raising is region specific. While in Uganda household fertility choices reflect a balance between the spouses’ fertility preferences, in Senegal these choices seem more dominated by the husband’s preference. This study demonstrates the importance of considering the adequate decision-making unit when designing family planning and child-centered programs and of using a region-specific approach.HIGHLIGHTSAnalyzing spousal fertility and child-raising choices provides an alternative to traditional proxies for intrahousehold decision making.Choice experimental data and methods enables the calculation of a decision-making coefficient.Individual fertility preferences cannot substitute for household-level choices.Considering the adequate gender and decision-making unit is crucial in designing family planning programs.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/13545701.2024.2413370

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