Volume 53 - Article 8 | Pages 219–244  

Education, religion, and male fertility in sub-Saharan Africa: A descriptive analysis

By Afua Durowaa-Boateng

Abstract

Background: Male fertility remains under-studied in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in terms of how education, religion, and relationship status influence fertility patterns. While female fertility is well documented, male fertility trends are less understood.

Objective: This study investigates how education, religious affiliation, and relationship status shape changes in the mean number of children for men across birth cohorts in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: The study uses a Poisson regression to find the relationship between various parameters of interest and the mean number of children ever born for males using Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data for 36 sub-Saharan African countries.

Results: The mean number of children changed across cohorts, with men in polygamous relationships having more children than others. However, education and religion have varying effects on male fertility across countries, with relationship status playing a much stronger role.

Conclusions: Relationship status and birth cohort play a more significant role in determining the number of children men have than the interaction between education and religion.

Contribution: This study expands on male fertility research by highlighting the interplay of education, religion, and relationship status on a country-specific level, emphasising the need for targeted policies.

Author’s Affiliation

• Afua Durowaa-Boateng - Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

A flexible model for reconstructing education-specific fertility rates: The case of sub-Saharan Africa
Volume 54 - Article 12

Shifting spousal age gaps in Kenya and Ghana: Does education matter?
Volume 53 - Article 41

A Bayesian model for the reconstruction of education- and age-specific fertility rates: An application to African and Latin American countries
Volume 49 - Article 31

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