Extramarital fertility in low- and middle-income countries

Abstract

BACKGROUNDIn most societies, childbearing is largely confined to women in formal marital unions, but in a subset of contemporary low-fertility Western societies, extramarital fertility has become common. However, extramarital fertility is often ignored in fertility research in contemporary low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). OBJECTIVETo document recent levels, trends, and differentials in extramarital fertility (both premarital and postmarital) in LMICs. METHODSWe employ Schoumaker's (2013) Stata program tfr2 to calculate two fertility measures from Demographic and Health Surveys in 63 countries: (1) the standard total fertility rate (TFR), which is based on all births in the three years before the survey date, and (2) the marital total fertility rate (MTFR), which is based on all births within marital unions in the three years before the survey date. The percentage of fertility that is extramarital (PEM) is estimated as 100 x (TFR-MTFR)/TFR. RESULTSThe unweighted average PEM for the most recent surveys in the 63 DHS countries equals 11.3%, with 7.9% premarital and 3.4% postmarital. By far the highest percentage premarital is found in southern Africa (43%) and the lowest in Asia/North Africa (0.9%). Postmarital fertility is most common in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. CONCLUSIONSChildbearing outside of marriage is an important feature of contemporary reproductive regimes in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. By contrast, less than 2% of births are extramarital in most Asian and North African societies. https://www.demographic-research.org CONTRIBUTION Extramarital fertility has social and economic consequences -for women, for their households, and for their children. We estimate, for the first time, the levels, trends, and differentials in both categories (premarital and postmarital) of extramarital fertility in LMICs.

Dynamics of Union Dissolution in Sub‐Saharan Africa

“…This pathway is most likely of relevance in societies where sexual intercourse inside intact unions is considered ideal and childbearing outside marriage is socially unacceptable. Despite increases in nonmarital sexual activity and fertility in SSA (Bongaarts and Casterline 2022; Clark, Koski, and Smith‐Greenaway 2017; Mensch, Grant, and Blanc 2006; Nyarko and Potter 2021), the majority of births still occurs within the co‐residential partnership (except for southern African countries—Swaziland, Namibia, and South Africa; Bongaarts and Casterline 2022). Thus, the question of how much reproductive time is lost due to union dissolutions, at what ages, and how that matters for fertility outcomes remains relevant.…”

“…Thus, in a context where first marriages take place at early ages, for example, early timing of first union dissolution implies that women are likely removed from these settings at ages where fecundity is high. Moreover, the intensity of union dissolution and the pace of remarriage modulate both the total reproductive years individuals lose to union dissolution and the ages at which they return to a setting where reproduction is more likely to occur (see Bongaarts and Casterline 2022 for a comparison of inter and extramarital fertility).…”