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Document Type
Dissertation - University Access Only
Award Date
1996
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department / School
Rural Sociology
First Advisor
Don Arwood
Abstract
This study analyzed the direct and indirect relationships between socioeconomic and cultural factors and the fertility of Ghanaian women. The characteristics considered were education, occupation, place of residence, child fostering and communication between spouses. The indirect relationship was considered by adjusting for the following proximate variables: postpartum abstinence, duration of breastfeeding, contraceptive use, and infant/child mortality. Ghana Demographic and Health Survey data (GDHS) of 1993 were used for analysis. The results of multivariate analysis show that cumulative fertility, as measured by deviation from the average marital cohort fertility, varies significantly by education, occupation, and place of residence for both female and male. When child fostering, communication between spouses, abstinence, breastfeeding, contraceptive use, and infant/child mortality were introduced into the model, fertility varies significantly by female education, male modern sector jobs, and urban place of residence. No significant association is found between child fostering and fertility. Apart from contraceptive use, all the proximate variables are significant predictors of fertility. The findings suggest that socioeconomic factors influence fertility through abstinence, breastfeeding, and infant/child mortality. The implications of these findings are discussed. Areas for further studies are also suggested.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Fertility, Human -- Ghana
Women -- Ghana -- Social conditions
Women -- Ghana -- Economic conditions
Format
application/pdf
Publisher
South Dakota State University
Recommended Citation
Klomegah, Roger W.Y., "Socioeconomic and Cultural Factors Relating to Fertility: A Ghanaian Level Test of the Contextual Theory of Fertility" (1996). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5903.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/5903