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On the Doorstep of Adulthood: Empowering Economic and Fertility Choices of Young Women

Author

Listed:
  • Berge, Lars Ivar Oppedal

    (Department of Business and Management)

  • Bjorvatn, Kjetil

    (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration)

  • Makene, Fortunata

    (Economic and Social Research Foundation)

  • Sekei, Linda Helgesson

    (NIRAS)

  • Somville, Vincent

    (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration)

  • Tungodden, Bertil

    (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration)

Abstract

We report from a large-scale randomized controlled trial of women empowerment in Tanzania investigating how two different empowerment strategies, economic empowerment and reproductive health empowerment, shape the economic and fertility choices of young women when they transition into adulthood. The analysis builds on a rich data set (survey, experimental, and medical data) collected over more than five years. The economic empowerment reduces poverty, while teenage pregnancy increases with both economic and reproductive health empowerment. The increase in fertility comes from a positive income effect and by women entering earlier into a relationship. We also provide evidence of the importance of social norms and labor market flexibility in explaining the income and relationship effects on fertility. The findings provide new insights on the economics of fertility, and show the importance of a comprehensive approach to women empowerment.

Suggested Citation

  • Berge, Lars Ivar Oppedal & Bjorvatn, Kjetil & Makene, Fortunata & Sekei, Linda Helgesson & Somville, Vincent & Tungodden, Bertil, 2022. "On the Doorstep of Adulthood: Empowering Economic and Fertility Choices of Young Women," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 15/2022, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2022_015
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Matthias Doepke & Anne Hannusch & Fabian Kindermann & Michèle Tertilt, 2022. "The Economics of Fertility: A New Era," NBER Working Papers 29948, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Sebastian Galiani & Paul J Gertler & Raimundo Undurraga, 2018. "The Half-Life of Happiness: Hedonic Adaptation in the Subjective Well-Being of Poor Slum Dwellers to the Satisfaction of Basic Housing Needs," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 16(4), pages 1189-1233.
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    Cited by:

    1. Céline Zipfel, 2022. "The demand side of Africa's demographic transition: desired fertility, wealth, and jobs," STICERD - Economic Organisation and Public Policy Discussion Papers Series 71, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Women empowerment; Economic empowerment; Fertility; Poverty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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