| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation is a work about the effects of education and
religion on the current family size and the fertil ity preferences on
the Kenyan women.
It util izes the method of path analysis and multiple regression
to test a series of models, both recursive and non-recursive, that
purportedly explain the variation in the dependent variable of interest.
The findings indicate that western re l igion, ethnic affi I iation
and age are important determinants of educational attainment. Educational
attainment is in turn an important determinant of age at First
birth and does not affect significantly, and directly, the current
Fertility levels of the Kenya women. It, however, affects directly the
number of additional children wanted. The study also demonstrates the
strong negative effect of current fertil ity levels on fertil ity preferences.
It is however shown by the non-recursive model that educational
attainment has a reciprocal relationship with age at first birth, and
so has the number of Iiving chiIdren with additional children wanted.
The non-recursive model is shown to be a better predictor of both the
current fertil ity and fertility preferences, than the recursive model.
The study concludes that relationships between fertil ity levels
and the variables used here can be country specific, but also bear
close resemblance to findings in the same area in western nations.
Age at first birth, education and reIigion are seen as potentially
practical variables for pol icy use, to influence both the current and
expected future fertil ity levels in Kenya. They are, however, part of
a rubric of factors relevant for changes in Kenya's fertility levels
in whatever direction. | en |
