Page 105 - IJPS-11-3

International Journal of
Population Studies Male fertility in Uganda

to 8.4 in 2016. A one-tailed t-test was used to examine than those who had their first childbirth before the age of
whether the decline in TFRm between 2006 and 2016 was 17 years, keeping other factors constant. The regression
important. For this test, an assumed mean of 9.33 was results showed that delaying the onset of childbirth
derived from the estimated TFRm for each survey (10.3, among men was associated with a decline in male fertility.
9.3, and 8.4). The t-test results showed a non-significant A 5-pp decline in the proportion of men who reported
decline in TFRm estimates from 2006 to 2016 (α = 0.000, a high duration of cohabitation and marriage (10 years
p > 0.05). and above) between 2006 and 2016 contributed 11% to
the changes in CEB, keeping other factors constant. This
3.2. Distribution of characteristics among finding indicates that the duration of cohabitation and
respondents in the years 2006 and 2016 marriage among men is positively associated with male
The univariate analysis results were used to establish fertility transition. A decline in the proportion of men
changes in the distribution of respondent characteristics. engaged in agricultural occupations contributed 4% to the
As shown in Table 2, the proportion of men who attained changes observed in CEB between 2006 and 2016, keeping
secondary and higher education increased by 11 percentage other factors constant. This result implies that a decline in
points (pp) between the 2006 and 2016 survey periods. In the proportion of men engaged in agricultural occupations
addition, there was a 19-pp increase among those who is positively associated with CEB transition among men.
joined services and manual labor, a 16-pp increase among In addition, a 2-pp decline in the proportion of men
those who reported contraceptive use, and an increase with two or more current wives (in polygamous unions)
among those who were dwelling in urban areas and contributed 2% to the change in CEB between 2006 and 2016,
watching television by 8 and 23 pp, respectively. To establish keeping other factors constant. An increase in the proportion
characteristics associated with male fertility, the study of men who attained secondary and higher education in
employed the Kruskal–Willis H test to compare differences 2016 compared to 2006 contributed 1% to the change of
in CEB across independent variable categories. The male CEB among men. Proportional changes in the following
fertility transition was observed between 2006 through characteristics contributed marginally to the change in CEB
the years preceding the 2016 survey, although it was not among men: changes in the total number of lifetime partners,
significant. At the bivariate level, the Kruskal–Willis H test type of residence, and religion. In particular, proportionally
indicated that the following independent variables were increases among Muslim men had a higher likelihood of
associated with discernible differences in CEB within and increasing CEB than any other religion.
between their categories: Age of a man, place of residence,
wealth status, education, number of current wives, reported 4. Discussion
contraceptive use, access to mass media (television, This study had two main objectives: First, to estimate male
newspaper, and radio), women with whom children are fertility rates over a span of 15 years, from 2006 to 2016,
fathered, lifetime sexual partners, religion, timing of first and second, to examine the factors associated with changes
childbirth, partner age difference, occupation, and duration in CEB to better understand male fertility dynamics in
of cohabitation and marriage (p < 0.000).
Uganda. This study demonstrates that male fertility in
3.3. Relationship between CEB and determinants of Uganda was in a slow-moving transition pace during the
male fertility study period, primarily due to changes in the proportional
composition of characteristics among men. In fact, male
Table 3 presents the multivariate Poisson decomposition fertility was higher than eight children per man, given the
results, which illustrate the differences in CEB among men prevailing ASFRm from 2006 to 2016. These results are
between the 2006 and 2016 survey periods. The observed consistent with earlier studies, which indicate that male
characteristics explain 113% of the change in CEB among fertility rates were higher than female rates in many African
men during this period. The decline in male fertility from countries (Schoumaker, 2017). Strongly entrenched
2006 to 2016 was primarily attributed to changes observed pronatalistic socio-cultural norms, values, and behaviors,
in the following variables: Age at first childbirth, duration of manifesting as demand for large family size and patriarchy,
cohabitation and marriage, occupation, number of current could plausibly explain why male fertility exceeded eight
wives, and education attainment. Most importantly, a 3-pp children per man (Nalwadda et al., 2010). Although the
increase in the proportion of men who reported being association between male and female fertility in Uganda
childless between 2006 and 2016 contributed 93% to the is scantly published, it is important to note that Uganda’s
changes in CEB, keeping other factors constant. female TFR is among the highest in the East African region
Furthermore, men who had their first childbirth at age and was twice over the global average of 2.3 by the year
25 years and above were more likely to have a reduced CEB 2022 (Population Reference Bureau, 2022).

Volume 11 Issue 3 (2025) 99 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.461