Education as a factor influencing fertility in Kenya, 1977/78

Abstract

Kenya became independent in 1963, and since then the Government has invested heavily in education. As a result many men and women have benefited. Consequently, some of the traditional practices which inhibited fertility, such as prolonged breastfeeding and abstinence are being abandoned while the use of modern methods of fertility control is not widespread. Thus the fertility rate at the time of writing (1984), is one of the highest in the world. This study has used the 1977/78 Kenya Fertility Survey data to examine the influence of western education on the fertility of ever-married women. The study has examined age at first marriage, cumulative fertility, first birth interval, fecundability and postpartum behaviour in the last closed birth interval. The findings have shown that education of women is positively related to the age at first marriage and to fecundability. Controlling for the age and duration of marriage, the study has shown that the education of women is positively related to the cumulative fertility in the first nine years of marriage. The decrement technique has been used to analyse the timing of the first birth after marriage, and the findings show that educated women have their first baby after marriage much sooner than the uneducated women. Generally the majority of the women in the survey prefer large families, and practise little contraception. Nevertheless, this study has shown that educated women are more likely to prefer smaller families and to practise contraception, especially those with 9 or more years of schooling. On the other hand, educated women have shorter periods of breastfeeding, abstinence and postpartum amenorrhoea.