Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T09:17:06.688Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

CONSISTENCY OF THE EFFECTS OF FEMALE EDUCATION ON FERTILITY ACROSS THE NORTH–SOUTH DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDE IN NIGERIA, 2003–2013

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2018

Onipede Wusu  and
Uche C. Isiugo-Abanihe
Onipede Wusu*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos State, Nigeria
Uche C. Isiugo-Abanihe
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Most studies examining the association between female education and fertility have reported an inverse association. However, little is known about the consistency of the relationship, or what level of education triggers an inverse association. This study examined the consistency of the association between female education and fertility across the north–south demographic divide in Nigeria. Data on women aged 40–49 were taken from the 2003, 2008 and 2013 Nigerian DHS data sets. The results showed that female education remained significantly and consistently inversely related to fertility in both the north and south of Nigeria. Women with secondary or higher level of education reported a lower number of children ever born (CEB) than those with primary or no education in both the north and south (p<0.05). The findings suggest that female education has a more effective negative effect on fertility in the south, where the level of female schooling is higher, than in the north, with its limited level of female education. Primary-level female education appeared to be ineffective in reducing fertility in the study sample. Women with primary schooling reported a slightly higher CEB than those who did not have any formal education. Also, age at marriage and child mortality were found to be consistent and significant predictors of fertility in both the north and south (p<0.001). Women who married at relatively higher ages and those who had never lost a child reported a smaller CEB consistently in both the north and south (p<0.001). Therefore, to attain sustainable fertility decline throughout Nigeria, it is imperative that policies aimed at increasing the prevalence and quality of female education are pursued, and there must be a focus on social, physical, environmental and cultural factors influencing age at marriage and child mortality.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 51 , Issue 1 , January 2019 , pp. 138 - 153
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press, 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aassve, A. & Altankhuyag, G. (2002) Changing patterns of Mongolian fertility at a time of social and economic transition. Studies in Family Planning 33(2), 165–172.Google Scholar
Ainsworth, M., Beegle, K. & Andrew, N. (1996) The impact of women’s schooling on fertility and contraceptive use: a study of fourteen sub-Saharan African countries. World Bank Economic Review 10(1), 85–122.Google Scholar
Barakat, B. & Blossfeld, H.-P. (2010) The search for a demography of education: some thoughts. Vienna Yearbook of Population Research 8, 1–8.Google Scholar
Becker, S. O., Cinnirella, F. & Woessmann, L. (2011) Does Parental Education Affect Fertility? Evidence from Pre-Demographic Transition Prussia. Economics of Education, University of Munich, and Leibniz Institute for Economic Research.Google Scholar
Bongaarts, J. (2006) The causes of stalling fertility transitions. Studies in Family Planning 37(1), 1–16.Google Scholar
Bongaarts, J. (2010) The causes of educational differences in fertility in sub-Saharan Africa. Vienna Yearbook of Population Research 8, 31–50.Google Scholar
Breton, D. & Prioux, F. (2005) Two children or three? Influence of family policy and sociodemographic factors. Population-E 60(4), 415–446.Google Scholar
Chen, I. C. (2016) Parental education and fertility: an empirical investigation based on evidence from Taiwan. Journal of Family and Economic Issues 37(2), 272–284.Google Scholar
Cygan-Rehm, K. & Maeder, M. (2012) The Effect of Education on Fertility: Evidence from a Compulsory Schooling Reform. SOEP Papers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research. Working Paper, German Institute for Economic Research, DIW Berlin. URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/68445 (accessed 14th February 2017).Google Scholar
Gayawan, E. & Adebayo, S. B. (2013) The Bayesian semiparametric multilevel survival modelling of age at first birth in Nigeria. Demographic Research 28(Article 45), 1339–1372.Google Scholar
Graff, H. J. (2010) The literacy myth: literacy, education and demography. Vienna Yearbook of Population Research 8, 17–23.Google Scholar
Grant, M. J. (2015) The demographic promise of expanded female education: trends in the age first birth in Malawi. Population and Development 41(3), 409–438.Google Scholar
Grant, M. J. & Behrman, J. R. (2010) Gender gaps in educational attainment in less developed countries. Population and Development 36(1), 71–89.Google Scholar
Gronqvist, H. & Hall, C. (2013) Education policy and early fertility: lessons from an expansion of upper secondary schooling. Economics of Education Review 37, 13–33.Google Scholar
Guillaume, A. & Desgrees du Lou, A. (2002) Fertility regulation among women in Abijan, Cote d’lvoire: contraception, abortion or both. International Family Planning Perspectives 28(3), 159–166.Google Scholar
Güneş, P. M. (2013) The Impact of Female Education on Fertility: Evidence from Turkey. Grand Challenges Canada Economic Returns to Mitigating Early Life Risks Project, University of Pennsylvania Population Studies Centre. URL: http://repository.upenn.edu/gcc_economic_returns/1 (accessed 14th February 2017).Google Scholar
Hoem, J. M., Neyer, G. & Andersson, G. (2006) Educational attainment and ultimate fertility among Swedish women born in 1955-59. Demographic Research 14, 381–404.Google Scholar
Isiugo-Abanihe, U. C. (2010) Continuity and Change in Nigeria’s Fertility Regime. University of Ibadan, Ibadan.Google Scholar
Isiugo-Abanihe, U. C., Ebigbola, A. & Adewuyi, A. (1993) Urban nuptiality patterns and marital fertility in Nigeria. Journal of Biosocial Science 25(4), 483–498.Google Scholar
Kara, R. & Maharaj, P. (2015) Childbearing among young people in South Africa: findings from the national income dynamics study. Southern African Journal of Demography 16(1), 57–85.Google Scholar
Kritz, M. M. & Gurak, T. D. (1989) Women’s status, education and family formation in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Family Planning Perspectives 15(3), 100–105.Google Scholar
Lee, J.-W. (2016) Determinants of Fertility in the Long Run. Working Paper, Australian National University Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis. URL: http://cama.Crawford.anu.edu.au.Google Scholar
Lutz, W., Cauaresma, J. C. & Abbasi-Shavazi, M. J. (2010) Demography, education, and democracy: global trends and the case of Iran. Population and Development 36(2), 253–281.Google Scholar
Madhavan, S., Adams, A. & Simon, D. (2003) Women’s networks and the social world of fertility behaviour. International Family Planning Perspectives 29(2), 58–62.Google Scholar
Martin, T. C. (1995) Women’s education and fertility: results from 26 Demographic and Health Surveys. Studies in Family Planning 26(4), 187–202.Google Scholar
National Population Commission [Nigeria] & ICF International (2014) Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2013. NPC & ICF International, Abuja, Nigeria, and Rockville, MD, USA.Google Scholar
National Population Commission [Nigeria] & ICF Macro (2009) Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2008. National Population Commission, Abuja, Nigeria, and ICF Macro.Google Scholar
National Population Commission [Nigeria] & ORC Macro (2004) Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2003. National Population Commission and ORC Macro, Calverton, MD, USA.Google Scholar
Nwakeze, N. M. (2007) The demand for children in Anambra State of Nigeria: a logit analysis. African Population Studies 22(2), 167–193.Google Scholar
Ogum, G. E. (1980) Fertility differentials in Nigeria. Genus 36(3/4), 203–213.Google Scholar
Olusanya, P. O. (1967) The educational factor in human fertility: a case of the residents of a suburban area of Ibadan, Western Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Economic and Social Studies 9(5), 351–374.Google Scholar
Perelli-Harris, B., Sigle-Rushton, W., Kreyenfeld, M., Lappegard, T., Keizer, R. & Berghammer, C. (2010) The educational gradient of childbearing within cohabitation in Europe. Population and Development 36(4), 775–801.Google Scholar
Shapiro, D. & Gebreselassie, T. (2008) Fertility transition in sub-Saharan. Africa: falling and stalling. African Population Studies 23(1), 3–23.Google Scholar
Wusu, O. (2012) A reassessment of the effects of female education and employment on fertility in Nigeria. Vienna Yearbook of Population Research 10, 31–48.Google Scholar