The Impact of Contraceptive Use and Abortion on Fertility in sub-Saharan Africa

Estimates for 2003-2014

Bibliographic Data

ID4122184
AuthorsSusheela Singh (0000-0001-9108-6206, Guttmacher Institute), Akinrinola Bankole (0000-0003-3220-9477, Guttmacher Institute), Jacqueline E Darroch (Guttmacher Institute)
Year2017
Volume43
IssueS1
Pages141-165
Publication date2017-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePopulation and Development Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0098-7921 • E-ISSN: 1728-4457
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/padr.12027
PMID29983458
OpenAlexW2585396213
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited11

With the exception of sub-Saharan Africa, fertility has declined substantially in all regions of the developing world.The fertility decline, which started in Latin America and Asia in the 1960s, progressed rapidly through the decades that followed, reaching close to replacement level in these two regions (2.3 births per woman) in 2005-2010(Bongaarts and Casterline 2013).An incipient decline in fertility in sub-Saharan Africa was first observed in the 1980s, but evidence has shown that the trajectory of decline in the region has not followed the pattern observed for other developing regions.Apart from the fact that the decline took longer to begin, its pace is also slower than in other regions, reaching an average of 5.1 births per woman in 2005-2010.Based on the annual change in the TFR from peak years for each region-1970region- -75 in Asia, 1975-80 -80 in Latin America, and 1980s in sub-Saharan Africa-the pace of decline in the TFR from the onset of decline to 2005-2010 has been much lower in Africa (0.03 births per year) than in Asia (0.12 per year) and Latin America (0.13 per year) (ibid.).In addition, recent evidence shows that the decline has stalled in several countries (Bongaarts 2008;Ezeh, Mberu, and Emina 2009;Shapiro and Gebreselassie 2009).While a stalled fertility decline is not unique to Africa, the stall is occurring at much higher levels of fertility than is the case in countries with stalled fertility declines in other regions.For example, fertility in Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, Egypt, and Indonesia stalled at about 3 births per woman compared to more than 4 births in Ghana and Kenya and about 4 in Zimbabwe (Bongaarts 2008).Previous research points to some important factors that help to explain the differences between the pattern of fertility decline in sub-Saharan Africa and the pattern in other developing regions.One factor is differential fertility preferences.Fertility surveys have consistently demonstrated preferences for larger families among women in sub-Saharan Africa than

Abortion · Biology · Birth rate · Developing country · Economic growth · Economics · Family planning · Fertility · Geography · Latin Americans · Political science · Population · Population projection · Pregnancy · Research methodology · Sociology · Sub-replacement fertility · Total fertility rate · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Demography · Global Maternal and Child Health · Reproductive Health and Contraception