Fertility Decline and Child Schooling in Urban Settings of Burkina Faso

Dados Bibliográficos

ID10970419
AutoresMariam Bougma (0000-0001-9598-8709, Université de Montréal, autor correspondente), Moussa Bougma, Thomas Legrand (0000-0002-5544-0703, Université de Montréal), Thomas K Legrand (Université de Montréal), Jean-François Kobiané (Higher Institute of Population Sciences, University of Ouagadougou, 03 BP 7118, Ouagadougou 03, Burkina Faso), Jean‐françois Kobiané (Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo)
Ano2015
Volume52
Fascículo1
Páginas281-313
Data de publicação2015-02-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoDemography (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0070-3370 • E-ISSN: 1533-7790
EditoraDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1007/s13524-014-0355-0
PMID25520263
OpenAlexW2008934895
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas12
Referências citadas64

As evidenced in Western rich countries, Asia, and Latin America, lower fertility allows couples to invest more in each of their children’s schooling. This postulate is the key rationale of family planning policies in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, most studies on Africa have found no correlation or even a positive relationship between the number of children in a family and their educational attainment. These mixed results are usually explained by African family solidarity and resource transfers that might reduce pressures on household resources occasioned by many births as well as methodological problems that have afflicted much research on the region. Our study aims to assess the impact of family size on children’s schooling in Ouagadougou (capital of Burkina Faso), using a better measure of household budget constraints and taking into account the simultaneity of fertility and schooling decisions. In contrast to most prior studies on sub-Saharan Africa, we find a net negative effect of sibship size on the level of schooling achieved by children—one that grows stronger as they progress through the educational system

Economics · Fertility · Geography · Population · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Demography · HIV/AIDS Impact and Responses · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Social Policies and Family