Spousal and Household Characteristics Associated with Women’s Fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This paper is based on a study that examined the influence of spousal and household characteristics on fertility of married women in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It utilized data from Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) from four countries between 2010 and 2015. Fertility was measured by the number of Children Ever Born (CEB). Descriptive and Poisson regression techniques were used for analysis. Results showed variation in the mean number of CEB across categories of spousal and household characteristics and across the countries. The Poisson regression analysis showed that while spousal age and age at marriage influenced fertility similarly across the countries, spousal educational attainment and household characteristics influenced fertility differently across the countries. The study concludes that, although some disparities exist in the way spousal and household characteristics influence fertility across sub-Saharan Africa, these characteristics cannot be overlooked in driving sustainable fertility transition in the region.