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Women’s Education and Fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa: Channels and Influence of Education on Fertility

Abstract

Theophile Ndjanmou Bieda

This paper seeks to contribute to the debate on the channels of influence of education on fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It uses individual level data of DHS of 14 countries of SSA to discuss the relative importance of the main channels that appear in the literature. The paper argues that compared to opportunity costs of children and the bargaining power of women, exposure to media and contraceptive use are the most influential channels through which education could cause fertility to decline consistently in SSA. These findings that were found robust with different measures of education and fertility suggest then, a better design of schooling policies as well as curricula in SSA, so as to minimize drop-out, reduce gender gap and prepare young girls regarding fertility concerns. In addition, contraceptive use should be promoted through media. The paper ends with a discussion on the causality issue and suggests a better setting in order to comfort its findings.