IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dem/demres/v20y2009i7.html

The impact of female employment on fertility in Dakar (Senegal) and Lomé (Togo)

Author

Listed:
  • Donatien Beguy

    (United Nations Human Settlements (UN Habitat))

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of female employment on fertility in two urban contexts in sub-Saharan Africa: Dakar (Senegal) and Lomé (Togo). The hypothesis that wage employment and maternal obligations are incompatible seems to be corroborated in Lomé, where women are likely to consider work as a legitimate alternative to their role as a mother or spouse. Being involved in economic activity is a real option and can therefore impact upon their reproductive life. By contrast, in Dakar working does not seem to hinder family formation. Greater involvement of women in the labour force is not the main reason for fertility decline in Dakar. These findings illustrate how important it is to consider social gender-specific roles in order to accurately determine the influence of female employment on reproductive life.

Suggested Citation

  • Donatien Beguy, 2009. "The impact of female employment on fertility in Dakar (Senegal) and Lomé (Togo)," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 20(7), pages 97-128.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:20:y:2009:i:7
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2009.20.7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol20/7/20-7.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/DemRes.2009.20.7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Hout, 1978. "The determinants of marital fertility in the united states, 1968–1970: Inferences from a dynamic model," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 15(2), pages 139-159, May.
    2. David Blau & Philip Robins, 1989. "Fertility, Employment, and Child-Care Costs," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 26(2), pages 287-299, May.
    3. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4537 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Van den Broeck, Goedele & Maertens, Miet, 2014. "Does female employment reduce fertility rates? Evidence from the Senegalese horticultural export sector," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 182715, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Goedele Van den Broeck & Miet Maertens, 2015. "Female Employment Reduces Fertility in Rural Senegal," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(3), pages 1-15, March.
    3. Yu, Haiyue & Cao, Jin & Kang, Shulong, 2021. "Who cares : Deciphering China’s female employment paradox," BOFIT Discussion Papers 7/2021, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    4. Ayse Abbasoglu & A. Banu Ergöçmen & Aysıt Tansel, 2018. "Birth and employment transitions of women in Turkey: The emergence of role incompatibility," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(46), pages 1241-1290.
    5. Thirunaukarasu Subramaniam & Nanthakumar Loganathan & Evelyn S. Devadason, 2018. "Determinants Of Female Fertility In Asean-5: Empirical Evidence From Bounds Cointegration Test," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 63(03), pages 593-618, June.
    6. Nsanja, Lamulo, 2022. "Effects of Education on Fertility and Labour Supply: Evidence from Malawi," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 10(4), September.
    7. Yu, Haiyue & Cao, Jin & Kang, Shulong, 2021. "Who cares: Deciphering China's female employment paradox," BOFIT Discussion Papers 7/2021, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    8. Noha Emara, 2016. "Fertility and Female Employment: A Panel Study on Developing Countries," Applied Economics and Finance, Redfame publishing, vol. 3(2), pages 122-127, May.
    9. Abbasoglu Ozgoren, Ayse & Ergöçmen, Banu & Tansel, Aysit, 2017. "Birth and Employment Transitions of Women in Turkey: Conflicting or Compatible Roles?," IZA Discussion Papers 11238, IZA Network @ LISER.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sakata, Kei & McKenzie, C. R., 2022. "Does the expectation of having to look after parents in the future affect current fertility?," Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 88(3), pages 283-311, September.
    2. Mörk, Eva & Sjögren, Anna & Svalelryd, Helena, 2008. "Cheaper child care, more children," Working Paper Series 2008:29, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    3. Aidis, Ruta & Wetzels, Cécile, 2007. "Self-Employment and Parenthood: Exploring the Impact of Partners, Children and Gender," IZA Discussion Papers 2813, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Gauthier, A.H., 1995. "Policies and the division of labour within families : The neglected link," WORC Paper 95.04.006/6, Tilburg University, Work and Organization Research Centre.
    5. Jonas Wood & Karel Neels, 2019. "Local Childcare Availability and Dual-Earner Fertility: Variation in Childcare Coverage and Birth Hazards Over Place and Time," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 35(5), pages 913-937, December.
    6. Dolores Ferrero Martínez & Amaia Iza, 2004. "Skill premium effects on fertility and female labor force supply," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 17(1), pages 1-16, February.
    7. Mussarat Khan, 2016. "Contribution of female human capital in economic growth: an empirical analysis of Pakistan (1972–2012)," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 709-728, March.
    8. Eva Mörk & Anna Sjögren & Helena Svaleryd, 2013. "Childcare costs and the demand for children—evidence from a nationwide reform," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 26(1), pages 33-65, January.
    9. Smith, Mark W., 1999. "The impact of state welfare policies on women's cohabitation," MPRA Paper 19288, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Laurène Thil & Laté A. Lawson & Mathieu Lefebvre, 2023. "An Empirical Assessment of the Drivers of Formal and Informal Childcare Demand in European Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 170(2), pages 581-608, November.
    11. Denise Doiron & Guyonne Kalb, 2005. "Demands for Child Care and Household Labour Supply in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 81(254), pages 215-236, September.
    12. Nakajima, Ryo & Tanaka, Ryuichi, 2014. "Estimating the effects of pronatal policies on residential choice and fertility," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 179-200.
    13. Linda Waite & Glenna Spine, 1981. "Young women’s transition to marriage," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 18(4), pages 681-694, November.
    14. Delia Furtado, 2016. "Fertility Responses of High-Skilled Native Women to Immigrant Inflows," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(1), pages 27-53, February.
    15. Olivier Guillot, 1996. "Activité féminine et garde des jeunes enfants : une analyse micro-économétrique," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 122(1), pages 83-94.
    16. Sandra Hofferth, 1984. "Long-term economic consequences for women of delayed childbearing and reduced family size," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 21(2), pages 141-155, May.
    17. J. Udry, 1983. "Do couples make fertility plans one birth at a time?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 20(2), pages 117-128, May.
    18. Amy Tsui, 1982. "The family formation process among U.S. marriage cohorts," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 19(1), pages 1-27, February.
    19. García-Morán, Eva & Kuehn, Zoe, 2012. "With strings attached: Grandparent-provided child care, fertility, and female labor market outcomes," MPRA Paper 37001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Mörk, Eva & Sjögren, Anna & Svalelryd, Helena, 2008. "Cheaper child care, more children," Working Paper Series 2008:29, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:20:y:2009:i:7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Editorial Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.