Decline of family size, the demographic dividend their unequal effects on children schooling within and across households in Ouagadougou

Over the past decades, many studies have documented the impact of declining fertility on the well-being of children. Few studies, however, have dealt with the sub-Saharan African context or examined the distribution of benefits within and across households during the fertility transition – the possible effects on social inequities. Our paper empirically examines systematic changes in boys’ and girls’ schooling in Ouagadougou (capital city of Burkina Faso), where total fertility has fallen from over 6 to 3.5 in recent years. More precisely, which households and, within households with regard to parents’ resource allocation decisions, which children benefit more (or pay the costs) of declining family size? Data are from the 2010 DHS and from the DEMTREND Project of the Ouagadougou DSS which follows a population of approximately 85000. This surveillance system is one of two that exists in large African cities. Early results indicate that the benefits of fertility decline in terms of schooling are no equally distributed either within or across households, acting to reinforce socioeconomic inequality in the next generation.