Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T00:35:18.729Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Does sex composition of offspring relate to fertility in urban areas? The case of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2021

Moussa Bougma Open the ORCID record for Moussa Bougma [Opens in a new window] ,
Vissého Adjiwanou  and
Jean-François Kobiané
Moussa Bougma*
Affiliation:
Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population (ISSP), Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo (ex University of Ouagadougou), Burkina Faso
Vissého Adjiwanou
Affiliation:
Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Quebec, Canada Centre for Actuarial Research (CARe), University of Cape Town, South Africa
Jean-François Kobiané
Affiliation:
Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population (ISSP), Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo (ex University of Ouagadougou), Burkina Faso
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

With the onset of the demographic transition in sub-Saharan Africa, couples’ desired number of children and the sex composition of offspring may become conflicted, with potential effects on future fertility. While intuitively expected, this effect has not been observed in studies in sub-Saharan Africa, where the level of fertility is higher than in other African regions. In this study, the hypothesis of a conflicted situation was examined by assessing the effect of sex composition of offspring on women’s intentions regarding additional children and their use of modern contraceptives. A mixed-method analysis was performed using quantitative data regarding 2567 women aged 35–49 years drawn from a 2012 Demtrend retrospective longitudinal population survey, supplemented by qualitative data collected through 23 in-depth interviews of men and women in Ouagadougou. Results showed that the absence of one sex (boy or girl) in the existing offspring was associated with additional demand for children and lower contraceptive use. These results suggest that a desire for a combination of both girls and boys may be the driving factor contributing to larger family size; that is, continued fertility may not be determined by son preference, but rather by overall composition of offspring, when existing children are all girls or all boys. This could explain the stalling of the fertility decline observed in recent years in Ouagadougou.

Keywords

Family Planning and ContraceptionFertilitySex preference
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 54 , Issue 2 , March 2022 , pp. 279 - 294
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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

Abadie, A and Imbens, GW (2009) Matching on the Estimated Propensity Score. NBER Working Paper Series. Working Paper 15301. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Adjiwanou, V and LeGrand, T (2014) Gender inequality and the use of maternal healthcare services in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Health & Place 29, 67–78.10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.06.001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Adjiwanou, V and N’Bouke, A (2015) Exploring the paradox of intimate partner violence and increased contraceptive use in sub-Saharan Africa. Studies in Family Planning 46(2), 127–142.10.1111/j.1728-4465.2015.00020.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ai, C and Norton, EC (2003) Interaction terms in logit and probit models. Economics Letters 80(1), 123–129.10.1016/S0165-1765(03)00032-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amoakohene, MI (2004) Violence against women in Ghana: a look at women’s perceptions and review of policy and social responses. Social Science & Medicine 59(11), 2373–2385.10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.04.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andersson, G, Hank, K, Rønsen, M and Vikat, A (2006) Gendering family composition: sex preferences for children and childbearing behavior in the Nordic countries. Demography 43(2), 255–267.10.1353/dem.2006.0010CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arnold, F (1997) Gender Preferences for Children. Demographic and Health Surveys Comparative Studies No. 23. Macro International, Calverton, MD.Google Scholar
Arnold, F, Kishor, S and Roy, TK (2002) Sex-selective abortions in India. Population and Development Review 28(4), 759–785.10.1111/j.1728-4457.2002.00759.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Attané, A (2003) Cérémonies familiales et mutations des rapports sociaux de sexe, d’âge et de génération: Ouahigouya et sa région, Burkina Faso. Doctoral dissertation, EHESS, Marseille.Google Scholar
Bawah, A, Akweongo, P, Simmons, R and Phillips, JF (1999) Women’s fears and men’s anxieties: the impact of family planning on gender relations in Northern Ghana. Studies in Family Planning 30(1), 54–66.10.1111/j.1728-4465.1999.00054.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Behrman, J and Duvisac, S (2017) The relationship between women’s paid employment and women’s stated son preference in India. Demographic Research 36(52), 1601–1636.10.4054/DemRes.2017.36.52CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blais, M and Martineau, S (2007) L’analyse inductive générale: description d’une démarche visant à donner un sens à des données brutes. Recherches Qualitatives 26(2), 1–18.Google Scholar
Bocquier, P, Madise, NJ and Zulu, EM (2011) Is there an urban advantage in child survival in sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from 18 countries in the 1990s. Demography 48(2), 531–558.10.1007/s13524-011-0019-2CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bongaarts, J (2013) The implementation of preferences for male offspring. Population and Development Review 39(2), 185–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bongaarts, J and Guilmoto, CZ (2015) How many more missing women? Excess female mortality and prenatal sex selection, 1970–2050. Population and Development Review 41(2), 241–269.10.1111/j.1728-4457.2015.00046.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bongaarts, J and Potter, RG (1983) Fertility, Biology and Behaviour: An Analysis of the Proximate Determinants. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Bougma, M, Lange, MF, Legrand, TK and Kobiané, JF (2016) Stratégies reproductives à Ouagadougou: le rôle de la scolarisation des enfants. Autrepart 74–75(2015), 23–46.10.3917/autr.074.0023CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bougma, M, LeGrand, TK and Kobiané, JF (2015) Fertility decline and child schooling in urban settings of Burkina Faso. Demography 52(1), 281–313.10.1007/s13524-014-0355-0CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bougma, M, Pasquier-Doumer, L, Legrand, TK and Kobiané, JF (2014) Fertility and schooling in Ouagadougou: the role of family networks. Population-E 69(3), 391–418.Google Scholar
Buis, M (2010) Stata tip 87: interpretation of interactions in nonlinear models. Stata Journal 10(2), 305–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caliendo, M and Kopeinig, S (2008) Some practical guidance for the implementation of propensity score matching. Journal of Economic Surveys 21(1), 31–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Filmer, D, Friedman, J and Schady, N (2009) Development, modernization and son preference in fertility decisions. World Bank Economic Review 23(3), 371–398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fuse, K (2010) Variations in attitudinal gender preferences for children across 50 less-developed countries. Demographic Research 23(36), 1031–1048.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, E and Evans, A (2005) Parity progression in Australia: what role does the sex of existing children play? Australian Journal of Social Issues 40(4), 505–520.Google Scholar
Guilmoto, CZ (2009) The sex ratio transition in Asia. Population and Development Review 35(3), 519–549.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
INSD and ICF International (2012). Enquête démographique et de santé et à indicateurs multiples (EDSBF-MICS IV), Burkina Faso 2010. Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie (INSD), Ouagadougou, and ICF International, Calverton, MD.Google Scholar
Jejeebhoy, SJ and Sathar, ZA (2001) Women’s autonomy in India and Pakistan: the influence of religion and region. Population and Development Review 27(4), 687–712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jennings, EA and Pierotti, RS (2016) The influence of wives’ and husbands’ fertility preferences on progression to a third birth in Nepal, 1997–2009. Population Studies 70(1), 115–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jütting, JP and Morrisson, C (2005) Changing Social Institutions to Improve the Status of Women in Developing Countries. Policy Brief No. 27. OECD Development Centre, Paris.Google Scholar
Jütting, JP, Morrisson, C, Dayton-Johnson, J and Drechsler, D (2008) Measuring gender (in)equality: the OECD Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base. Journal of Human Development 9(1), 65–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaba, AJ (2015) Explaining the rapid increase in Nigeria’s sex ratio at birth: factors and implications. African Journal of Reproductive Health 19(2), 17–33.Google ScholarPubMed
Kippen, R, Evans, A and Gray, E (2007) Parental preference for sons and daughters in Western industrial setting: evidence and implications. Journal of Biosocial Science 39(4), 583–597.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Konaté, DL, Sinaré, T and Seroussi, M (1994) Enquête Démographique et de Santé Burkina Faso 1993. Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie (INSD), Ouagadougou, and Macro International Inc., Calverton, MD.Google Scholar
Lachaud, J, Adjiwanou, V, LeGrand, TK and Kobiané, JF (2014) Family size and intra-family inequalities in education in Ouagadougou. Demographic Research 31(49), 1455–1476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laperrière, A (1994) Les critères de scientificité des méthodes qualitatives. In CQRS (ed.) Les méthodes qualitatives en recherche sociale : problématiques et enjeux. Actes du colloque du Conseil québécois de la recherche sociale, Rimouski, 17 mai 1991. Gouvernement du Québec, CQRS, Quebec, pp. 45–66.Google Scholar
Lin, TC (2009) The decline of son preference and rise of gender indifference in Taiwan since 1990. Demographic Research 20, 377–402.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Locoh, T (2003) Baisse de la fécondité et mutations familiales en Afrique sub-saharienne. In Hertrich V and Keïta S (eds) Questions de population au Mali. UNFPA, Bamako, pp. 129–158Google Scholar
Locoh, T and Mouvagha-Sow, M (2005) Vers de nouveaux modèles familiaux en Afrique de l’Ouest? Communication presented at the XXVème congrès international de la population, France, 18–23 July 2005.Google Scholar
McDougall, J, DeWit, DJ, Ebanks, GE (1999) Parental preferences for sex of children in Canada. Sex Roles 41, 615–626.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milazzo, A (2014) Son Preference, Fertility and Family Structure: Evidence from Reproductive Behavior Among Nigerian Women. Policy Research Working Paper 6869. World Bank, Washington, DC.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mills, M and Begall, K (2010) Preferences for the sex-composition of children in Europe: a multilevel examination of its effect on progression to a third child. Population Studies 64(1), 77–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moursund, A and Kravdal, O (2003) Individual and community effects of women’s education and autonomy on contraceptive use in India. Population Studies 57(3), 283–301.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mumtaz, Z and Salway, S (2005) ‘I never go anywhere’: extricating the links between women’s mobility and uptake of reproductive health services in Pakistan. Social Science & Medicine 60(8), 1751–1765.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pison, G (2004) Fewer births, but a boy at all costs: selective female abortion in Asia. Population and Societies 404, 1–4.Google Scholar
Pollard, M and Morgan, SP (2002) Emerging parental gender indifference? Sex composition of children and the third birth. American Sociological Review 67(4), 600–613.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raley, S and Bianchi, S (2006) Sons, daughters and family processes: does gender of children matter? Annual Review of Sociology 32, 401–421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reher, DS (2011) Economic and social implications of the demographic transition. Population and Development Review 37, 11–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Repetto, R (1972) Son preference and fertility behavior in developing countries. Studies in Family Planning 3(4), 70–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosenbaum, PR and Rubin, DB (1983) The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects. Biometrika 70(1), 41–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rossi, P and Rouanet, L (2015) Gender preferences in Africa: a comparative analysis of fertility choices. World Development 72, 326–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rossier, C, Soura, A, Baya, B, Compaoré, G, Dabiré, D, Dos Santos, S et al. (2012) Profile: the Ouagadougou Health and Demographic Surveillance System. International Journal of Epidemiology 41(3), 658–666.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schatz, E and Williams, J (2012) Measuring gender and reproductive health in Africa using demographic and health surveys: the need for mixed-methods research. Culture, Health & Sexuality 14(7), 811–826.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schultz, TP (2007) Population Policies, Fertility, Women’s Human Capital, and Child Quality. IZA Discussion Paper No. 2815. Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn, Germany.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh, HK, Singh, RD, Singh, GP and Kumar, A (2010) Influence of sex composition on demand of child in Uttar Pradesh. Indian Journal of Preventive and Social Medicine 41(1–2), 57–66.Google Scholar
Sloane, DM and Lee, CF (1983) Sex of previous children and intentions for further births in the United States, 1965–1976. Demography 20(3), 353–367.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tabutin, D and Schoumaker, B (2004) La démographie de l’Afrique au sud du Sahara des années 1950 aux années 2000: synthèse des changements et bilan statistique. Population 59(3–4), 521–622.Google Scholar
Tian, FF and Morgan, SP (2015) Gender composition of children and the third birth in the United States. Journal of Marriage and Family 77(5), 1157–1165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van der Maren, JM (1996) Méthodes de recherche pour l’éducation: Éducation et formation. Fondements. Presses de l’Université de Montréal, Montréal.Google Scholar
Williams, R (2012) Using the margins command to estimate and interpret adjusted predictions and marginal effects. Stata Journal 12(2), 308–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar