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Uncovering the effect of the HIV epidemic on fertility in sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Malawi
The affect of HIV prevalence on women's fertility behaviour in Malawi
Authors:
D. Durevall; A. Lindskog; School of Business, Economics and Law - University of Gothenberg
Publisher:
Swedish Working Papers in Economics , 2008
This paper evaluates the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the reproductive behaviour of women in Malawi. The study used retrospective birth information for the years 1980 to 2004 from the Malawi Demographic and Health Survey, and analysed fertility data according to age of the mother and prior number of births.
The results show that the probability of a young woman giving birth to her first child increases as the HIV-prevalence rate of the district increases, whereas the probability of older women giving birth decreases. This suggest that in areas of higher HIV prevalence, young women may seek to give birth earlier when there is a lower risk of being HIV infected, or that women give birth earlier as a consequence of marrying and establishing supposedly monogamous relationships earlier as both women and men attempt to reduce the risk of becoming infected.
The results reflect a change in behaviour resulting from the HIV epidemic, and do not conflict with the data suggesting that HIV reduces fertility among HIV positive women for physiological reasons. The HIV epidemic is thus likely to change the timing of births, while effects on a woman’s total number of children may be very small.
