The Policy Implications of the Effects of Education, Health and Social Security on Fertility in Developing Countries

Social dimension of fertility in India: Insights from a regional study

“…In several studies it is found that fertility declines with rise in level of education (Zachariah 1981, Cochrane 1988. The analysis of NHFS data also corroborates these findings (see Table 5 and 6).…”

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

“…It has been suggested that female schooling can indirectly raise fertility by improving maternal health, reducing pathological sterility, and reducing the duration of breastfeeding and its contraceptive benefits (Alam and Casterline 1984;Bongaarts, Frank, and Lesthaeghe 1984;Casterline and others 1984;Cleland and Rodriguez 1988;Cochrane 1979Cochrane , 1988Jejeeboy 1992;and World Bank 1984). Female education is also thought to facilitate fertility decline by increasing the bargaining power of women, allowing them greater control over their destiny, and improving husband-wife communication (Jejeeboy 1992;United Nations 1987).…”

“…There have been several studies of the differentials in aggregate measures of fertility between urban and rural areas and among women according to their level of schooling, using data from the World Fertility Survey (WFS) (Alam and Casterline 1984;Cleland and Rodriguez 1988;Cochrane 1988;Cochrane and Farid 1990;and United Nations 1987). The total fertility rate (TFR) is the number of children a woman would have in her lifetime if she bore children according to current age-specific fertility rates.…”

“…Note, however, that the TFR for those who completed the primary cycle is substantially lower than for women with no schooling in all cases, including Kenya and Nigeria. Results that indicate a positive relation between some primary schooling and the TFR cast doubt on the effectiveness of less-than-complete female primary schooling in lowering fertility, suggesting that schooling does not have a depressing effect on fertility until the secondary level (Cleland and Rodriguez 1988;Cochrane 1979Cochrane ,1988United More than primary 4.2 6.7/5.1' 5.5 n.a.…”

“…Beegle (1995), Feyisetan and Ainsworth (1994), Oliver (1995), and Thomas and Maluccio (1995) found strong effects of female schooling on contraceptive use when controlling for the availability (in Tanzania), quality (in Nigeria), and price of family planning services (in Ghana and Zimbabwe). In multivariate studies in other regions, women's education has a uniformly direct relation with contraceptive use and husband's education also has a direct but less powerful relation (Castro Martin 1995;Cochrane 1979).…”