Long Term Effects of Reproductive History on Female and Male Mortality in a Rural Area of Senegal

Géraldine Duthé, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Gilles Pison, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Raphael Laurent, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

Differentials in adult mortality in rural Africa are rarely analyzed. In the long term, the relation between fertility and health is complex with biological and socioeconomic factors which can be positive or negative. Comparing men and women in such analysis help to shed light social factors from biological ones. In this paper, we focus on a rural community of Senegal: Mlomp, whose population has been monitored for twenty years. For women, according to a “healthy pregnant effect”, the higher the number of children, especially boys, the lower the mortality risks. In a patriarchal system where women leave their family of origin to live with their husband’s relatives after marriage, having sons is more beneficial for women in the old ages. For men, socioeconomic status is the only significant determinant of mortality.