Socioeconomic Determinants of Family Size in Nyeri District of Rural Kenya

Abstract

The objective of this article is to investigate the impact of social and economic factors on family size in rural Kenya and to draw public policy implications from the results. This is an important matter because the fertility rate in Kenya is high; higher than most developing countries, especially in rura 1 areas. This may be an impediment to Kenya's development. Economic and social factors are found to be important influences on family size, The study has found that households with high income have more children unlike in developed countries where the more the income, the fewer the children they would like to have. The case for Kenya can be explained by the fact that these incomes are comparatively small, making the income effect quite small and other sociocultural effects more at play in determining family size other than income. The article reinforces the view that economic and cultural factors must be considered simultaneously when examining the determinants of the number at children in a family, These results would be reinforced if proximate determinants of family size are also investigated