From lineage to conjugality: The social context of fertility decisions among the Pare of Northern Tanzania

This paper is a case study of the linkages between selected characteristics of the social organization in a particular ethnic group and reproductive values and behavior. Specifically, it examines factors that might be responsible for the acceptance of contraception and an expressed desire for a relatively small number of children among the Pare of Northern Tanzania. It is hypothesized that with the increasing shift towards wage labor and diminishing dependence on land and lineage relations, there is a growing reliance on the conjugal bond and the development of a partnership marriage in which husbands and wives perceive their interests as mutual. This facilitates communication, particularly about family planning. Research methodology consisted of a two-pronged approach and combined an intensive ethnographic study of the households in the Ugweno District of the Pare mountains with individual surveys administered to a sample of 512 women and in-depth interviews conducted with 20 women regarding the value of children and contraceptive and birth histories.