Fertility Differentials in Kenya: The Effect of Female Migration

Abstract

This study uses the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) data conducted in 1988/89.The hypothesis of the paper is that women who migrate tend to maximise their other lifetime aspirations at the expense of their reproductive roles and performance. That is, female migrants are involved in behaviours and practices that negatively influence fertility relative to non-migrants. The analysis shows that through the influence of migration on fertility, reproductive behaviour and performance is modified; migration is a mechanism through which the changes observed in fertility behaviour and levels can be explained. The influence of migration on fertility levels is estimated using two procedures: the comparison of the mean CEB and multivariate analysis. The study demonstrated that there is an inverse relationship between migration and the number of children ever born.