Female education and fertility behaviour in Kenya: study of rural and urban areas in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of female education on fertility. To help this investigation the following variables were considered: female education level, Age at first marriage, desired family size, place of residence, contraceptives, infant and child mortality, Age of respondents, duration of marriage and employment status. The study is centred on women of reproductive ages between 15-49 years. The information on those women was extracted from secondary data based on the Kenya demographic and Health Survey of 1993. Data analysis made use of cross-tabulation descriptive statistics and chi-square (x2 ). The findings of the study denote great disparities in fertility according to their female education attainment. Most women had primary education and few had attained higher education. This leads to high fertility because those with higher education had the lowest fertility. The desire for children declines with higher educational attainment and therefore there is need to encourage female education. This means that many women still fall under the bracket of high preference for children. Education raises the age at first marriage and because many did not attain higher education, marriage occurred in the adolescent ages. This encourages fertility. The women with secondary and higher education were living in urban centres while the ones with primary education and no education were living in the rural areas. There is need to encourage education in women so as to expose them to job opportunities within the urban centres. IV Contraceptive knowledge was wide but the usage was not satisfactory. There is need to educate and bring awareness on contraceptives so that there can be acceptance even among those women with low or no education. Infant and child mortality was low among all the women who had any education. It is notable that infant and child mortality was high among those women who had no education. Women with higher education were all living in the urban centres and were employed and earning cash for work. This is an indication of the need to educate women so as to improve their standards of living by allowing them to get opportunities to compete for the available jobs. The findings of this study highlight the need to reinforce the current policy of women education in the country. There is a strong indication that education is a key factor in changing the attitudes of women concerning fertility and equipping them with the knowledge and advantages of attaining quality and not quantity families. The government should formulate policies to support the existing ones so as to increase the number of women who attain higher education in Kenya. This will uplift the standard of living and status of women in Kenya.