Religion, education, and fertility in sub-Saharan Africa

Hoël BERGER, Université Paris Nanterre
Aurélien Dasré, Université Paris Nanterre
Carole Brugeilles, Université de Paris X, Nanterre

Sub–Saharan fertility transition is known as the slowest, Caldwell and Caldwell (1987) explained it as an effect of socio-religious norms. Among sociodemographic determinants, Education is the most important driver of fertility decline. Several African countries experienced educational stalls, they might be linked to fertility stalls (Goujon, Lutz, KC, 2015). Private schools, including confessionals, are growing, it might reinforce religious norms (McQuillan, 2004). We used 23 countries’ DHS to produce Poisson models and interaction terms. In most countries, christens are better educated and have fewer children than Muslims. In Poisson models, religion has a significant impact on 13 countries’ fecundity, but with limited effects. In only 5 out of 23 sub-Saharan African countries, fertility is significantly different between Muslims and Christian within one group of higher educated women. We conclude that whatever their religions, better-educated women have fewer children than others. Education can counterbalance potential cumulative effects of religious groups’ norms.