| dc.description.abstract | The problem of adolescent fertility continues to persist and raise concern in Kenya.
This study examined the determinants of adolescent fertility in the country using
data from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey data, 1993, a survey
conducted by National Council for Population and Development (NCPD) and the
Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
The survey used stratified multistage probability sampling to select 526 clusters
nationally. A total of 1788 women aged 15-19 (in this study considered as
adolescents) was interviewed in the survey. This study investigated different factors
largely grouped under socio-economic, socio-cultural and demographic factors that
affect fertility. The social-cultural variables considered are; ethnicity, religion and
place of residence while the social-economic variables considered are occupation,
knowledge of any method and education level. The demographic variables
considered are age, age at first intercourse and marital status. The study adopted
the proximate determinant model to guide the analysis. The intermediate variable
used in this study was ever use of contraception.
Data was analyzed using frequencies, cross tabulation with chi-square as well as
logistic regression analysis. The bivariate results found that adolescent fertility is
influenced by an interaction of different factors, which can be grouped as socioeconomic,
socio-cultural, and demographic factors. The chi-square test confirmed
all the variables to be significantly associated with adolescent fertility except the
variable type of place of residence. The multivariate analysis found age, current
marital status, education level, ethnicity, occupation, and knowledge of any method
of contraception, age at first intercourse (15-19 yrs), ever use of contraceptives and
religion to be significantly associated with adolescent fertility in Kenya.
In terms of policy, the study recommends the development of programs that
delay and discourage early marriage including the setting up of a minimum age
at marriage. It also recommends the development of relevant programs to
encourage girl child education with higher enrollment and retention levels
especially up to at least secondary school level.
In this study there were some unexpected findings such as adolescents with no
education having lower fertility levels than those with primary school education.
Similarly, the positive association between knowledge of contraception; ever
use of contraception and adolescent fertility were unexpected. This study
recommends similar qualitative studies at both national and sub-national levels
to provide qualitative explanations and increase the understanding of
adolescent fertility. | en |
