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Fertility in Context: Exploring Egocentric Neighborhoods in Accra

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Spatial Inequalities

Part of the book series: GeoJournal Library ((GEJL,volume 110))

Abstract

As recently as 1988 the total fertility rate (TFR) in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana was 4.7 children per woman (compared to the national average of 6.4). The most recent (2008) Ghana Demographic and Health Survey estimates the TFR in the Greater Accra Region to be down to 2.5 (compared to 4.0 for the country as a whole). Within the core metropolis of the Greater Accra Region—the Accra Metropolitan Assembly or Accra Metropolis, our data (described below) suggest that fertility has dropped to near replacement level as of 2008–2009. Within Accra, as throughout the nation, this has been accomplished especially through a delay in marriage and reductions in exposure within marriage, accompanied by an increase in the use of abortion and modern contraceptives. At the same time, reported levels of abortion and contraceptive utilization remain substantially below what would be expected in order to achieve Accra’s low fertility. Thus, the exact proximate determinants of the decline remain a bit murky.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The distance from the northern edge of Accra near the University at Legon to Jamestown on the coast is no more than 11 km.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded in part by grant number R01 HD054906 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (“Health, Poverty and Place in Accra, Ghana,” John R. Weeks, Project Director/Principal Investigator). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development or the National Institutes of Health. Additional funding was provided by Hewlett/PRB (“Reproductive and Overall Health Outcomes and Their Economic Consequences for Households in Accra, Ghana,” Allan G. Hill, Project Director/Principal Investigator). The 2003 Women’s Health Study of Accra was funded by the World Health Organization, the US Agency for International Development, and the Fulbright New Century Scholars Award (Allan G. Hill, Principal Investigator). Earlier versions of the chapter were presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, New York, February 2012, and at the Annual Meeting of Population Association of America, San Francisco, May 2012. The authors thank John Casterline for his very insightful and helpful comments, and Sean Taugher and Chad Dragan for research assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, International Population Center, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA, 92182-4493, USA

    John R. Weeks

  2. Department of Geography and Regional Studies, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami, 1000 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL, 33124-2221, USA

    Justin Stoler

  3. Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Center for Population & Development Studies, 9 Bow Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Allan G. Hill

  4. School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Room 4027, Murray Building, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

    Allan G. Hill

  5. Department of Geography, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA, 92182-4493, USA

    Alex Zvoleff

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Geography, San Diego State University, Storm Hall 308, San Diego, 92182-4493, California, USA

    John R. Weeks

  2. , Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of Southampton, Murray Building, Highfield 58, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom

    Allan G. Hill

  3. , Dept of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Miami, Memorial Drive 1000, Coral Gables, 33124-2221, Florida, USA

    Justin Stoler

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Weeks, J.R., Stoler, J., Hill, A.G., Zvoleff, A. (2013). Fertility in Context: Exploring Egocentric Neighborhoods in Accra. In: Weeks, J., Hill, A., Stoler, J. (eds) Spatial Inequalities. GeoJournal Library, vol 110. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6732-4_10

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