Age at first marriage, age at first sex, family size preferences, contraception and change in fertility among women in Uganda: analysis of the 2006–2016 period
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Date
2020
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Publisher
BMC women's health
Abstract
Uganda’s fertility was almost unchanging until the year 2006 when some reductions became visible.
Compared to age at first marriage and contraceptive use, age at sexual debut and family size preferences are rarely
examined in studies of fertility decline. In this study, we analyzed the contribution of age at first marriage, age at
first sex, family size preferences and contraceptive use to change in fertility in Uganda between 2006 and 2016.
Methods: Using data from the 2006 and 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS), we applied a
nonlinear multivariate decomposition technique to quantify the contribution of age at first marriage, age at first sex,
family size preference and contraceptive use to the change in fertility observed during the 2006–2016 period.
Results: The findings indicate that 37 and 63% of the change in fertility observed between 2006 and 2016 was
respectively associated with changing characteristics and changing fertility behavior of the women. Changes in
proportion of women by; age at first marriage, age at first sex, family size preferences and contraceptive use were
respectively associated with 20.6, 10.5 and 8.4% and 8.2% of the change in fertility but only fertility behavior
resulting from age at first sex was significantly related to the change in fertility with a contribution of 43.5%.
Conclusions: The study quantified the contribution of age at first marriage, age at first sex, family size preferences and
contraceptive use to the change in fertility observed between 2006 and 2016. We highlight that of the four factors, only
age at sexual debut made a significant contribution on the two components of the decomposition. There is need to
address the low age at first sex, accessibility, demand for family planning services and youth-friendly family planning
services to young unmarried women such that they can achieve their desired fertility. The contribution of other factors
such as education attainment by women and place of residence and their relationship with changes in fertility calls for
addressing if further reduction in fertility is to be realised.
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Keywords
Change in fertility, Age at first marriage, Age at first sex, Family size preferences, Contraceptive use, Children ever-born, Decomposition, Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda
Citation
Ariho, P., & Kabagenyi, A. (2020). Age at first marriage, age at first sex, family size preferences, contraception and change in fertility among women in Uganda: analysis of the 2006–2016 period. BMC women's health, 20(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-020-0881-4