Cultural Differences in Fertility in Kenya: Family Formation as a Case Study

Michele Steinmetz, Pennsylvania State University

This paper analyzes the impact of culture on the number of children ever born (CEB) in Kenya, utilizing family formation as a case study. Hammel (1990) has proposed a comparative methodology to assess the importance of culture in demographic research. This approach is based on the examination of differences between cultures while simultaneously analyzing the impact of common institutional factors. In Kenya, there are a variety of tribal groups living under the same government and economic conditions, providing some common influences. Utilizing the 1998 KDHS and OLS regression, the relationship between tribal group and CEB is examined, as mediated by family organization. Current age, age at first marriage, contraceptive use and breastfeeing are controlled for in the models to assess the variation among tribes is explained by deliberate marital duration, fertility control and lactational infecundability. Family formation is found to be a significant factor influencing fertility for the entire sample.