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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Family size grows when girls’ education withers

Fertility rates in some African nations fell less quickly when fewer girls finished primary school.
Girl standing at a blackboard at a primary school in Ghana

The widespread education of girls has contributed to decades-long declines in fertility in countries such as Ghana. Credit: Olivier Asselin/Alamy

Fertility rates in sub-Saharan Africa began dropping in the 1980s. But those declines stalled between 1995 and 2000 — a trend that can be linked to disruptions in girls’ educations.

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Nature 566, 156 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-00479-1

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