THE IMPACT OF WOMENS SCHOOLING ON FERTILITY AND CONTRACEPTIVE USE - ASTUDY OF 14 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES

This article examines the relationship between-female schooling and tw o behaviors--cumulative fertility and contraceptive use--in fourteen S ub-Saharan African countries where Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS ) have been conducted since the mid-1980s. Average levels of schooling among women of reproductive age are very low, from less than two year s to six. Controlling for background variables, the last years of fema le primary schooling have a negative relation with fertility in about half the countries, while secondary schooling is associated with subst antially lower fertility in all countries. Female schooling has a posi tive relationship with contraceptive use at all levels. Among ever-mar ried women, husband's schooling exerts a smaller effect than does fema le schooling on contraceptive use and, in almost all cases, on fertili ty. Although the results suggest commonalities among these Sub-Saharan countries, they also reveal intriguing international differences in t he impact of female schooling, which might reflect differences in the quality of schooling, labor markets, and family planning programs, amo ng others.