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Effects of education upon fertility: The Indirect Effects of Investment in Human Capital

Guest post by: African Development Bank

Article Overview: Whether and how government policy should affect fertility is a controversial ethical issue. However, the UN International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in September 1994 highlighted the importance of enhancing female education as part of a successful population policy.

Effects of education upon fertility: The Indirect Effects of Investment in Human Capital

Whether and how government policy should affect fertility is a controversial ethical issue. However,
the UN International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in September 1994 highlighted
the importance of enhancing female education as part of a successful population policy. More educated
women commonly tend to have smaller families, although this is less marked in Africa than elsewhere.
Perhaps the best evidence on the relationship between fertility and female education in Africa is that
provided by the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) carried out in the late 1980s. Table 9 provides
descriptive statistics on the differentials by education in total fertility rates of women aged 15-49 in
fourteen African countries. Women with primary education tend to have fewer children in most countries,
but the relationship is weak. By contrast, women with post-primary education have markedly fewer
children. These associations persist even after controlling for other variables (Ainsworth, Beegle and Nyamete, 1995)9. In half of the countries, there was no significant association between primary education
and fertility after controlling for income, age and a few other variables. For the other half of the countries,
there was a significant negative relationship but it was less strong than with secondary schooling. By
contrast, there was a universally negative relationship between fertility and female secondary schooling.
The effects of higher secondary schooling (11 years of schooling or more) were 2-4 as large as those of
lower secondary schooling. Husbands’ education also had a negative effect on fertility where it was
significant, although the effect was weaker than that of wives’ education. Education appears to reduce
fertility more in the DHS data than in the earlier World Fertility Surveys carried out in the late 1970s
(see UN, 1987). Although this may partly be accounted for by methodological differences in the data
analysis, this seems to reflect a genuine change over time. In particular, amongst women in the older
cohort (aged 35 and over) of the DHS, schooling of less than eleven years was seldom associated with
lower fertility.
The associations between female education and fertility are likely to be, at least partly, causal.
Educated women may be able to obtain higher wages, increasing the opportunity cost of time spent
rearing children. They may also have a preference for more educated children, making it more expensive
to have large families. Education may also change knowledge of and attitudes towards the use of
modern contraception. However, there is a simultaneity between female education and fertility. In most
countries, child-bearing and school attendance are incompatible, so girls face a choice between staying
on at school and marrying young. This may partly explain why higher secondary schooling has such a
large impact on fertility, since the age of students often coincides with the typical age at marriage in
many African countries.

Human Capital and Economic Development
Simon Appleton and Francis Teal

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Article Tags: african countries, ainsworth, beegle, best evidence, descriptive statistics, differentials, education education, education in africa, ethical issue, female education, fertility rates, genuine change, government policy, health surveys, methodological differences, negative relationship, population policy, post primary education, secondary schooling, world fertility surveys



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