Fertility Differentials in Kenya: The Effect of Female Migration
Migration
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Issue: 2
(10 - 2005)
This study uses the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) data conducted in
1988/89.The hypothesis of the paper is that women who migrate tend to maximise their other
lifetime aspirations at the expense of their reproductive roles and performance. That is, female
migrants are involved in behaviours and practices that negatively influence fertility relative
to non-migrants. The analysis shows that through the influence of migration on fertility,
reproductive behaviour and performance is modified; migration is a mechanism through
which the changes observed in fertility behaviour and levels can be explained. The influence of
migration on fertility levels is estimated using two procedures: the comparison of the mean
CEB and multivariate analysis. The study demonstrated that there is an inverse relationship
between migration and the number of children ever born.
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