New publication: Childlessness and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Is There Evidence for a U-shaped Pattern?
A new article, co-authored with Christiaan Monden, has now been published in the European Journal of Population. In this article, we explore how female and male childlessness levels relate to levels of socio-economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using 291 Demographic and Health Surveys between 1986 and 2018 from 38 countries and 384 regions, we find a U-shaped relationship between female childlessness and development, and a linear relationship for men. The U-shape for women results from negative associations of female involuntary childlessness with health and educational advancements, combined with positive correlations of voluntary and circumstantial childlessness with education and income improvements. While these positive associations are stronger among men than women, the negative relationships of involuntary childlessness with health and education observed for women are absent for men, resulting in an overall positive and linear relationship between development and childlessness among men. Our findings have implications for how we might expect childlessness rates to evolve with future levels of development.
