Fertility in Egypt levels and determinants (2000 – 2010)

1. Introduction: Fertility is an important component of population change, and therefore, has attracted interest of scholars and policy makers. Several efforts have been made in order to understand the determinants of fertility and formulate appropriate theories and models such as Davis and Blake (1956); Becker (1960); Bongaarts (1978, 1983, 1993); Easterlin (1975); and Caldwell (1976; 1982) and others. Most of these studies and theoretical frameworks attempt to explain fertility based on economic, social, or anthropological grounds. Since data has been increasingly available to researchers in most developing countries, many of these theoretical frameworks were tested in different parts of the world. Unfortunately, different methods of sampling and data collection used in each study have affected the accuracy and consistency of research findings, leading to some contradictions. In addition, studies used different sets of explanatory variables and varied scales of measurements. This paper attempts to provide a better understanding of correlates of fertility behavior of Egyptian women. Specifically.

2. objectives of this research are:
• To present the levels of fertility in Egypt.
• To examine the most important variables those explain fertility behavior.

3. Hypotheses
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