Women’s autonomy and fertility in Chad

Abstract

Chad's total fertility rate (TFR) is 6.4 children per woman, compared with no more than 5.5 in neighbouring countries: Cameroon and the Central African Republic. Scientific research on the determinants of fertility in Chad should therefore be carried out in order to show decision-makers how they can strengthen their actions in this area. This is the aim of this study, which focuses on the influence of women's autonomy on fertility in Chad. Analyses of data from the Multiple Indicator and Demographic and Health Survey (DHS/MICS) conducted in Chad in 2014/2015 and a qualitative survey conducted in the same country in 2020 show, among other things, that 1) in socio-cultural groups characterised by strong gender inequalities, women's autonomy is positively associated with their desired fertility; 2) in these and other groups characterised by less gender inequality, women's autonomy is negatively associated with their actual fertility, all things being equal; 3) the hypotheses explaining this relationship differ across sociocultural groups: In highly gender- inegalitarian groups, the frequent death of children leads couples in which women have either little or no autonomy to compensate with high fertility, whereas in less gender- inegalitarian groups, the negative association between women's autonomy and fertility is due to late union formation, union dissolution, the fertility-reducing effects of breastfeeding and modern contraception, and other intermediate fertility variables not considered here. These findings highlight both the importance of designing development programmes in Chad that focus on women's empowerment and the need for such programmes to take sufficient account of the socio-cultural contexts in which the populations concerned live.