Abstract
This paper provides an overview and analyses of the relatively recently-emerged and ongoing fertility transition in sub-Saharan Africa. We use data from 49 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) that have been carried out in 29 different countries to examine fertility levels and trends, overall and separately for urban and rural settings. We also look at levels and changes in age-specific fertility for a selected subset of these countries. Our examination of trends, using the 15 countries in which multiple DHS surveys have been carried out, suggests that there may be a three-stage transition process, with fertility initially declining in urban areas while remaining stable in rural areas, then fertility falling in both settings but more rapidly among urban dwellers, and finally with fertility declining more in rural than in urban areas. This suggests that urban residents play a key role in setting in motion the process of fertility transition that is presently unfolding in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the paper provides evidence on the extent to which urban-rural differences in fertility (and hence, presumably, changes in fertility) are linked to differences (and changes) in women's schooling, age at marriage, contraceptive use, and infant and child mortality.
Recommended Citation
Shapiro, David and Tambashe, B. Oleko
(2002)
"Fertility Transition in Urban and Rural Sub-Saharan Africa: Preliminary Evidence of a Three-Stage Process,"
Journal of African Policy Studies: Vol. 8:
No.
2, Article 7.
Available at:
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/joaps/vol8/iss2/7