Education and employment as determinants of age at first marriage and its effect on fertility in Tanzania: a case study of urban and rural Mbeya district

The purpose of this study was to investigate on the effect of education and employment on age at first marriage, and the relationship that may exist between the age at first marriage and fertility. The study was conducted in three urban and four rural wards in Mbeya district. Questionnaire interview was used to collect primary data from 764 ever married women aged 15-49 years. Secondary data was collected through documentary reviews. This dissertation is divided into six chapters. Chapter one deals with the background to the problem. the hypotheses to be tested, the significance and the limitations the study. Chapter two is on the review of literature while chapter three explains the methodological aspect of the study. Data presentation and analysis is done in chapters four and five respectively. Chapter six presents the summary of the findings along which conclusions and recommendations are made. The major findings of this study are summarized below.(a) The population in Mbeya district is characterized by a "young" age structure with high dependancy ratio. The majority of the women has relatively low level of education and is non wage earners. (b) Both education and wage employment were associated with delaying marriage among the women. (c) There is a clear trend towards delayed marriage among the women, and their fertility level was discovered to decline with increasing age at first marriage. (d) The majority (about 50%) of the women interviewed desired a large family (of more than seven children). In the light of the above findings it is recommended that: (a) the educational status of women in this country be improved by increasing the number of girls schools and streams especially at secondary school level. (b) The legal age at marriage is raised from 15 years to 18 years with the consent of parents and from 18 to 21 years without the consent of parents. (c) More research on the subject is done covering wider area with more respondents and involving more variables.