Tribe and Class in Monrovia by Merran Fraenkel

Author:Merran Fraenkel [Fraenkel, Merran]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, African Studies, Anthropology, General
ISBN: 9780429950537
Google: PxBqDwAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2018-08-22T00:00:00+00:00

THE INCIDENCE AND EFFECTS OF INFERTILITY

The frequent incidence of childlessness among the ‘inside wives’ in the examples of households I have given is no coincidence: that a very large proportion of women in all strata have no children is apparent to anyone who lives in Monrovia, and it is also a topic very often mentioned in conversation and gossip. In my (effective) sample of 790 adult women from the eight residential areas, no less than 49 per cent, had no living children, and only 24 per cent, had more than one living child. If single women were excluded— although some of these had children—the proportions were 43 per cent, childless and 29 per cent, with no living child. I took as ‘adult’ all women aged 15 years or more, but dividing the women into age groups made little difference to the phenomenon: of those aged 25 years or more, the proportions were 41 per cent, childless and 25 per cent, with only one living child. The conventional fertility ratio (the numbers of living children under 5 years of age, per 1, 000 married women) is shown in Table 12, for the eight areas separately and for the total population.

TABLE 12. Fertility ratio

Residential area Number of children still alive and under 5 years of age per 1, 000 married women

Kwi Street 714

New Krutown 543

Vaitown 500

Old Krutown 481

Bassa Community 327

Bishop’s Brook 321

Loma Quarters 313

Claratown 315

Total sample 448

I had previously carried out a sample survey of the population of Livingstone, in Northern Rhodesia, a town considered to have a very low fertility ratio and a high rate of infantile mortality.2 There I found that the fertility ratio was 673 children under 5 years of age per 1, 000 married women, a figure considerably higher than that of 448 obtained from the Monrovia survey. The latter, however, did not cover very adequately the areas predominantly occupied by the educated, civilized section of the population, and that there is a clear correlation between socio-economic status and fertility is apparent from Table 12: in middle-class Kwi Street, the fertility ratio was markedly higher than in any other area. This may arise from the higher educational level of its inhabitants and/ or their better financial position, either of which may lead them to make better use of the very limited medical facilities available. Relatively high ratios in New Krutown, Vaitown and Old Kru-town suggest that residence in long-established communities with established mores may also be a contributing factor. Tribal custom may also be relevant: in the case of Vaitown, for example, the fertility ratio is probably affected by the fact that many women are sent back to Cape Mount for their confinements and may remain there while suckling. A great deal more analysis would, however, be required before any authoritative statement could be made on the extent, nature and causes of the low fertility ratio: most importantly, we did not make inquiries concerning children who had been born alive and since died—because this would have encumbered the

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