The role of family networks and social capital on women's fertility intentions in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

s1.IntroductionsIn African societies, family solidarity – understood as material, practical, and affective exchanges between kin members – is an everyday reality, with strong historical roots. This term encompasses several types of social practices, passed down from one generation to the next, underpinned by shared norms and representations, and typically involving the transfer of goods, services, and persons between members of the same extended family [Adjamagbo (1997), Sow and Desclaux (2002), Kuépié (2012)]. In sub-Saharan Africa, family solidarity may be brought into play by a variety of events, such as a birth, the start of a school year, agricultural activities, unemployment, illness, death, accidents, etc. These events happen recurrently in everyday life or during certain life course stages (childhood, adolescence, youth, adulthood, or old age). Family configurations are crucial for mobilizing the resources needed to cope with such events, since there are few formal transfer systems in most African societies. Family solidarity hence plays the role of a social security system, protecting individuals against life's uncertainties. Family ties are maintained on a daily basis through mutual support, visits, and participation in celebrations and ceremonies organized in the network [Ndongo Dimé (2007), Kuépié (2012), Bougma et al. (2014)].sThere is an abundant literature on extended family support in the field of education, as family solidarity plays a major role in children's schooling. Children in large families tend to have poorer educational outcomes because their parents have fewer resources to invest in each child [Becker (1960), Downey (1995), Gibbs et al. (2016)]. However, studies have shown that exchanges in family networks can reduce the negative effect of family size on children's level of education. Jæger (2012) finds that the support obtained through the extended family can...