Gender, Mortality and Fertility: The Association between Gender, Child Mortality and Number of Children Born to Mothers in Kenya

Dorothy O. Rombo, University of Minnesota
Jane Rose Njue, Northern Illinois University
Benta Abuya, Pennsylvania State University

To determine the impact of gender preference and child mortality on fertility, hierarchical multiple regression was performed on a random sample of 2,791 mothers drawn from 1999 micro data census. The results indicate that the control variables of age, SES, marital status, and area of residence accounted for 43% of variance. Age and marriage were positively associated with fertility while, socio-economic status and urban residence had negative associations. Compared to mothers in monogamous marriages, being single, separated and widowed were all significant negative predictors of fertility. Having children of the same gender was positive predictor and having females only explained a higher (8%) of variance compared to 4% for mothers with male children only. Death of a child was also positively related with fertility, explaining about12% of variance. The findings of this study have implications for further research and policy in both health and education.