| dc.description.abstract | Adolescence is a period in the life cycle during which females experience major transitions characterized by phyical, psychological, emotional and sexually changes (United Nations, 2013). During this period, adolescents seek new identities and explore their sexuality which sometimes lead to unplanned pregnancy and childbearing or marriage. These challenges are common in many sub-Saharan African countries including Malawi. The objectives of the study were therefore to estimate the prevalence and identify significant predictors of adolescent fertility (women aged 15-19 years of age) in Malawi. The study used cross-sectional data obtained from the 2010 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS). The chi-square statistic was used to examine the differentials of fertility by socio-demographic characteristics of the adolescents and and the Poisson Regression was used to identify the significant predictors of the same.
The results show that the prevalence of adolescent fertility in Malawi, with TFR of 2.3, is high. Additionally, the median age of women at sexual debut was 16 years, and marriage was also 16 years, which were comparatively low and could explain the high adolescent fertility in Malawi. The study also found that apart from region and ethnicity, all other nine socio-economic and demographic factors including current age of women, educational attainment, type of residence, religion, working status, wealth index, age at first intercourse, age at first marriage, and contraceptive use were significantly associated with adolescent fertility at the bivariate analysis. Furthermore, the multivariate results revealed that current age of women, educational attainment (at primary level only), age at first intercourse, age at first marriage, and contraceptive use were significant predictors of adolescent fertility in Malawi.
From the results, it can be concluded that adolescent fertility is prevalent and high in Malawi, which could have serious negative health and socio-economic impact on young women and their children. It is recommended that that policies and programmes that could improve the situation of young women by empowering them through education as a means to reducing adolescent marriages and fertility should be continued in Malawi. Additionally, policies and regulations that could increase age at sexual debut and first marriage should be put in place; interventions aimed at delaying sexual activity, through encouraging virginity pledges and abstinence education, should be developed and implemented; policies and programmes to increase contraceptive knowledge and uptake by sexually active adolescent women should be in place, especially in rural communities. | en_US |
