| dc.description.abstract | Adolescent fertility is a major health concern because it is associated with higher morbidity and
mortality for both the mother and child. Early childbearing shapes the mother and her child's
opportunities, their subsequent life chances for good or bad depending on the wealth status of the
adolescent's background. Despite decline in Total Fertility Rates in both Kenya and Tanzania,
adolescent fertility still remains high.
The analyses done were based on a sample of 1,767 adolescents from Kenya and 2,221 adolescents
from Tanzania aged 15-19 years. The data was obtained from Demographic and Health Surveys of
2008-2009 for Kenya and 2010 for Tanzania. Logistic regression model was fitted to identify social
economic, socio-demographic and social cultural determinants of adolescent fertility.
The major factors associated with adolescent fertility in Kenya were education, marital status, age,
age at first intercourse, age at first marriage and use of contraceptives. On the other hand, the major
factors associated with adolescent fertility in Tanzania were age, age at first marriage, education,
marital status, use of contraceptives and work status. All these factors were similar for both
countries except work status and age at first intercourse which showed association in Tanzania and
Kenya respectively.
The major policy implications for this study are that the marriage act 1971 which has set age at first
marriage as 14 years in Tanzania should be reviewed to raise age at first marriage and the children
act 2000 in Kenya which outlaws underage marriage should be enforced. Subsidized free and
universal primary education should be offered in both countries to motivate girls to remain in school
especially those who are from poor background. Finally, qualitative study should be carried out to
provide such information and questions that cannot be answered using quantitative data. | en_US |
