1. Fertility, Education, and Resources in South Africa. Land and Population Program Working Paper Series 96-15.
- Author
-
Rand Corp., Santa Monica, CA. and Thomas, Duncan
- Abstract
This paper concludes that population and education are likely to play central roles in public policy in South Africa as it emerges from years of apartheid. The study examines some of the mechanisms that underlie the negative association between fertility and education. Using household survey data collected as part of the Project for Statistics on Living Standards and Development, the report challenges some common beliefs about women's education and economic development. Education is not randomly assigned within a population but reflects self-selection in educational attainment. Education and household resources tend to be correlated; a woman's education may be a proxy for her, or her family's, income, but in South Africa, female education continues to have a powerful negative association with fertility. This report states the impact of comprehension skills is particularly large in magnitude suggesting that the acquisition and assimilation of information may be affecting family decision-making. (Contains 13 references, 1 figure and 3 tables.) (EH)
- Published
- 1996