Demand for Children and the Income-Fertility Gradient in Sub-Saharan Africa

About this event

Current and projected population growth rates in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) constitute a major policy concern, especially as they are highest among the poorest segments of the region’s population. Governments, international organizations and philanthropies have thus far focused their efforts on contraceptive access, but evidence consistently suggests that contraceptive access can explain at most 25% of the reduction in total fertility rates. This project therefore puts the focus back on the demand side of this issue, by investigating the determinants of the negative income-fertility gradient within SSA countries. The seminar will document some key facts motivating the research question and outline the steps of a structural estimation exercise as an attempt to answer it.