Female employment reduces fertility in rural Senegal.
Economic growth and modernization of society are generally associated with fertility rate decreases but which forces trigger this is unclear. In this paper we assess how fertility changes with increased labor market participation of women in rural Senegal. Evidence from high-income countries suggest...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2015-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4376695?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1811296205694566400 |
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| author | Goedele Van den Broeck Miet Maertens |
| author_facet | Goedele Van den Broeck Miet Maertens |
| author_sort | Goedele Van den Broeck |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Economic growth and modernization of society are generally associated with fertility rate decreases but which forces trigger this is unclear. In this paper we assess how fertility changes with increased labor market participation of women in rural Senegal. Evidence from high-income countries suggests that higher female employment rates lead to reduced fertility rates but evidence from developing countries at an early stage of demographic transition is largely absent. We concentrate on a rural area in northern Senegal where a recent boom in horticultural exports has been associated with a sudden increase in female off-farm employment. Using survey data we show that employed women have a significantly higher age at marriage and at first childbirth, and significantly fewer children. As causal identification strategy we use instrumental variable and difference-in-differences estimations, combined with propensity score matching. We find that female employment reduces the number of children per woman by 25%, and that this fertility-reducing effect is as large for poor as for non-poor women and larger for illiterate than for literate women. Results imply that female employment is a strong instrument for empowering rural women, reducing fertility rates and accelerating the demographic transition in poor countries. The effectiveness of family planning programs can increase if targeted to areas where female employment is increasing or to female employees directly because of a higher likelihood to reach women with low-fertility preferences. Our results show that changes in fertility preferences not necessarily result from a cultural evolution but can also be driven by sudden and individual changes in economic opportunities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:46:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-85b57d691dbd4e8e8f87bd1a25f6def8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:46:04Z |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-85b57d691dbd4e8e8f87bd1a25f6def82022-12-22T02:59:58ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-01103e012208610.1371/journal.pone.0122086Female employment reduces fertility in rural Senegal.Goedele Van den BroeckMiet MaertensEconomic growth and modernization of society are generally associated with fertility rate decreases but which forces trigger this is unclear. In this paper we assess how fertility changes with increased labor market participation of women in rural Senegal. Evidence from high-income countries suggests that higher female employment rates lead to reduced fertility rates but evidence from developing countries at an early stage of demographic transition is largely absent. We concentrate on a rural area in northern Senegal where a recent boom in horticultural exports has been associated with a sudden increase in female off-farm employment. Using survey data we show that employed women have a significantly higher age at marriage and at first childbirth, and significantly fewer children. As causal identification strategy we use instrumental variable and difference-in-differences estimations, combined with propensity score matching. We find that female employment reduces the number of children per woman by 25%, and that this fertility-reducing effect is as large for poor as for non-poor women and larger for illiterate than for literate women. Results imply that female employment is a strong instrument for empowering rural women, reducing fertility rates and accelerating the demographic transition in poor countries. The effectiveness of family planning programs can increase if targeted to areas where female employment is increasing or to female employees directly because of a higher likelihood to reach women with low-fertility preferences. Our results show that changes in fertility preferences not necessarily result from a cultural evolution but can also be driven by sudden and individual changes in economic opportunities.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4376695?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Goedele Van den Broeck Miet Maertens Female employment reduces fertility in rural Senegal. PLoS ONE |
| title | Female employment reduces fertility in rural Senegal. |
| title_full | Female employment reduces fertility in rural Senegal. |
| title_fullStr | Female employment reduces fertility in rural Senegal. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Female employment reduces fertility in rural Senegal. |
| title_short | Female employment reduces fertility in rural Senegal. |
| title_sort | female employment reduces fertility in rural senegal |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4376695?pdf=render |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT goedelevandenbroeck femaleemploymentreducesfertilityinruralsenegal AT mietmaertens femaleemploymentreducesfertilityinruralsenegal |