Explaining the decline in fertility among citizens of the GCC countries: the case of the UAE

Abstract

This paper examines certain factors that have contributed to the decline in fertility in the Gulf Cooperation Council G.C.C. countries in recent years, taking the United Arab Emirates "U.A.E." as a case study. Employing data from the 2008 U.A.E. Household Expenditure Survey, this paper analyzes the determinants of fertility using a Poisson fertility count model. The results show that economic factors, in terms of the costs and benefits that families derive from children in the U.A.E. are not important determinants of fertility due to the large size of social insurance provided by the U.A.E. government. Moreover, labor market participation by either males or females do not play a critical role in determining fertility in the U.A.E. The two primary causes of declines in fertility are a) late marriages or late first births, and b) higher levels of female education. Other contributors to drops in fertility are marriages between U.A.E. national males and foreign females and increases in child birth intervals. Conversely, the size of household residences and the number of domestic workers working in a household contribute positively to fertility.

Knowledge of pharmacists on proper use of oral contraceptive pills and missed dose instructions in United Arab Emirates

“…According to the State of World's Children 2015 UNICEF report, fertility rate dropped from 6.6 in 1970 to 1.8 in 2013 [2]. Major contributors to this drop were females' seeking higher education and higher rates of labor force involvement [1]. These factors were also known to enhance the prevalence of contraceptive methods use among women in UAE [3].…”

“…Over the past 30 years, there was a significant drop in fertility rate in UAE [1]. According to the State of World's Children 2015 UNICEF report, fertility rate dropped from 6.6 in 1970 to 1.8 in 2013 [2].…”

Maternal Early-Life Risk Factors and Later Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the UAE Healthy Future Study (UAEHFS)

“…We used ever-married females as a proxy for ever-pregnant females for the GDM outcome in our study. A previous study in the UAE country setting in 2008 revealed that more than 95% of ever-married women of reproductive age (15–49 years of age) reported having one or more children [ 55 ]. Furthermore, we had a lot of uncertain or missing values for some predictors; however, our sensitivity analyses revealed non-systematic mechanisms in the missingness pattern.…”

Gender roles perceptions and ideal number of children: case study of Emirati youth

“…Only few publications tackle fertility rate dynamics in the UAE and it's rare to nd research on desired fertility or ideal number of children. Al Awad and Chartouni (2014) examined the factors contributed to the decline in fertility in the GCC in recent years, taking the UAE as a case study. They found that the economic factors, in terms of the costs of children in the UAE, are not essential determinants of fertility due to the large size of social insurance provided by the UAE Government.…”