Dr A Adeniran FMCPHSociology of Fertility

Learning Objectives At the end of this lecture, Students should be able to•Define Fertility•Describe Socio-cultural factors that affect fertility•Describe the effect of education/urbanization and other

factors on fertility

What is Fertility?

Fertility is the actual no. of pregnancies or children the woman has

Fertility is the actual repro-ductive experience of the woman

Fertility vs Fecundity

Fecundity is the maximum biological capacity for reproduction

Traditionally, Nigerian society and many societies in the developing world place a high premium on children

Socio-Cultural Factors That Influence Fertility

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AGE

HOW DOES AGE IN-FLUENCE FERTILITY RATE?

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MARITAL STATUS

MARRIED SINGLE

HOW DOES MARITAL STATUS INFLUENCE FERTILITY RATE?

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CULTURAL

POLYGAMY

MALE PREFERENCE

CHILDREN = WEALTH

INHERITING WIDOWS

CHILD/EARLY MARRIAGE

POSITION OF WOMEN/WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

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RELIGION

Islam

vs

Christianity

vs

catholic

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EDUCATION & SOCIAL CLASS

• Education has a direct relationship with contraceptive usage

• People who want their children to go to school

also tend to have less no. of children

• People of higher social class tend to have fewer

children

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6 URBANIZATION

People who live in urban areas tend to have fewer children

Why?

SO WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT?

ANY QUESTIONS?