Senegal fertility survey 1978; a summary of findings

So concludes this summary of the 1978 Senegal Fertility Survey of 3,985 women aged 15-49. The total number of children ever born to respondents aged 45-49 was 7.2, and the crude birth rate for the 5 years prior to the survey was 48 per 1,000. These figures suggest that fertility in Senegal has not changed much over the past 30 years. Fertility differences among socioeconomic groups were minimal and fertility was only slightly lower in urban than in rural areas. The few differences in fertility that did exist seem to be due to ethnic origin. The near universality of marriage in Senegal (83% of survey respondents were currently married) is a major factor in this relatively high level of fertility. Respondents" mean age at first marriage was 16.4 years. Polygamy is fairly common among all ethnic groups; 48% of respondents were living in a polygamous union. Dissolution of first marriages is high (29%), but this is counterbalanced by the fact that remarriage is usual. However, some changes in fertility may be occurring, largely as a result of increasing urbanization and education. Because so few married women in Senegal use contraceptives (only 4% of those sampled), the two most important factors affecting fertility are age at first marriage and length of lactation. Trends in these two areas are contradictory: age at first marriage is increasing slightly among women under age 30, while length of lactation is apparently decreasing among the more educated and urban women. This latter trend might explain in part the slightly higher level of early fertility among urban and educated women. Modernization may have another important effect. With the decline in infant mortality, it is likely that women will feel more sure of their children"s survival and become more receptive to family planning. It should be noted, however, that number of living children seemingly had little effect on respondents" family size preferences, with the average number of desired children being nine.