Fertility of Palestinian Women in Gaza, West Bank, Jordan and Lebanon

Marwan Khawaja, American University of Beirut

This paper provides a largely descriptive account of the reproductive behavior of Palestinian women in four settings: the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan and Lebanon. Trends and differentials in fertility and contraception are examined, using high quality household survey data. Comparisons between refugees and non-refugees are made. The findings indicate that fertility has begun to drop everywhere but Gaza, owing mainly to a postponement of marriage and an increase in the proportion of women remaining single. Fertility is lower among the refugees than the non-refugees in every setting, with the proportion married generally lower and age at marriage higher among the former as compared to the latter. Variations across countries in fertility and contraceptive use far exceed those between refugees and non-refugees within the same setting. There is evidence that the refugees living in camps have higher levels of fertility and demand for children than those residing outside the camps.