The Role of Education and Family Background in Marriage, Childbearing, and Labor Market Participation in Senegal

B-Tier
Journal: Economic Development & Cultural Change
Year: 2016
Volume: 64
Issue: 2
Pages: 369 - 403

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This article examines the role of education and family background on age at marriage, age at first birth, and age at labor market entry for young Senegalese women. We use a multiple-equation framework that allows us to account for the endogeneity that arises from the simultaneity of the four decisions that we model. Our results highlight the importance of a woman's own education in delaying marriage and that the relationship between her education and the timing of childbearing and of entering the labor market mainly operates through the influence of schooling decisions on the age at marriage. We show that marriage and motherhood decisions are interrelated and that the timing of first birth strongly depends on the duration of marriage. We also shed light on the composite influence of parental education and death shocks on all the outcomes we examine.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/683982
Journal Field
Development
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25