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

Author

Listed:
  • Lars Ivar Oppedal Berge

    (Norwegian School of Economics)

  • Kjetil Bjorvatn

    (Norwegian School of Economics)

  • Fortunata Makene

    (Economic and Social Research Foundation)

  • Linda Helgesson Sekei

    (NIRAS)

  • Vincent Somville

    (Norwegian School of Economics and Chr. Michelsen Institute)

  • Bertil Tungodden

    (Norwegian School of Economics)

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

  • Lars Ivar Oppedal Berge & Kjetil Bjorvatn & Fortunata Makene & Linda Helgesson Sekei & Vincent Somville & Bertil Tungodden, 2022. "On the Doorstep of Adulthood: Empowering Economic and Fertility Choices of Young Women," Working Papers 2022-035, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:hka:wpaper:2022-035
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    File URL: http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Berge_Bjorvatn_Makene_etal_2022_doorstep-of-adulthood.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Doepke, Matthias & Hannusch, Anne & Kindermann, Fabian & Tertilt, Michèle, 2022. "The Economics of Fertility: A New Era," IZA Discussion Papers 15224, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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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

    Tanzania; reproductive health; teenage pregnancy; positive income effect; Girl's Economic Empowerment: a Randomized Experiment in Tanzanian Schools;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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