| dc.description.abstract | Qualitative and quantitative data gathered in a survey of 340
women from Siaya in Kenya demonstrate that high fertility in the
district is a rational response to the prevalent traditional
socio-cultural system which puts a premium on having many
children as essential to family survival. Other factors
contributing to persisting high fertility includes widespread
poverty, uncertainty about child survival, limited use of modern
contraceptive technology and an early start to reproduction.
The study found that age at first pregnancy was falling, although
age at first marriage was rising. This increase in pre-marital
childbearing has extended the potential reproductive span and
contributed to rising fertility level. Fertility estimates also
revealed significant differentials, with fertility highest in
southern areas, in the least educated and among the traditional
believers.
This pattern of fertility has not helped the economic development
potential in the district; rather it has led to over utilization
of agricultural resources, low development potential
opportunities and now a threat to the ecosystem and social life.
High fertility - in excess of family size preferences revealed
in the survey - overstretches limited household finances, reduces
both individual's and area's economic growth as a consequence of
capital dilution and adversely affects women's health and work
potential.
The thesis concludes that there is an urgent need for effective
population policies and determined efforts to improve the socioeconomic
status of women in the district, if the adverse
consequences of unwanted births and premature childbearing are
to be countered. | en_US |
