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Cited by 290Reproductive Health and ContraceptionDemographic Trends and Gender PreferencesGender, Labor, and Family Dynamics

The Impact of Women's Schooling on Fertility and Contraceptive Use: A Study of Fourteen Sub-Saharan African Countries

Ainsworth, M., Beegle, K., Nyamete, A.·1996·The World Bank Economic Review
DOI 10.1093/wber/10.1.85
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Abstract

This article examines the relationship between female schooling and two behaviors—cumulative fertility and contraceptive use—in fourteen Sub-Saharan African countries where Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) have been conducted since the mid-1980s. Average levels of schooling among women of reproductive age are very low, from less than two years to six. Controlling for background variables, the last years of female primary schooling have a negative relation with fertility in about half the countries, while secondary schooling is associated with substantially lower fertility in all countries. Female schooling has a positive relationship with contraceptive use at all levels. Among ever-married women, husband's schooling exerts a smaller effect than does female schooling on contraceptive use and, in almost all cases, on fertility. Although the results suggest commonalities among these Sub-Saharan countries, they also reveal intriguing international differences in the impact of female schooling, which might reflect differences in the quality of schooling, labor markets, and family planning programs, among others.

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39 of 39 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Women's education is associated with improvements in economic productivity, decision-making ability, contraception use, age at first birth, family size, maternal mortality and morbidity, and educational attainment among their children.

    “Evidence suggests that women’s education is associated with improvements in economic productivity, decision-making ability, contraception use, age at first birth, family size, maternal mortality and morbidity, and educational attainment among their children [13–18].”

    From Physical, social, and political inequities constraining girls’ menstrual management at schools in informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya. (2017) · cites this paper as [13]

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Related

Authors
Ainsworth, M., Beegle, K., & Nyamete, A.
ORCID
Beegle, K.
Venue
The World Bank Economic Review
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
1996-01-01
Volume
10
Issue
1
Pages
85-122
ISSN
  • 0258-6770 (ISSN-L)
  • 1564-698X
DOI
10.1093/wber/10.1.85
OpenAlex
W1991532784
Cited by
290
References
39
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 31 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 12
FWCI
3.03
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • The World Bank Economic Review (publishedVersion)
  • HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Reproductive Health and Contraception
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics
Keywords
women's education, fertility, contraceptive use, secondary education, primary education, spousal education, family planning, sub-Saharan Africa

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