Table 3 Distribution of schooling years and fertility by woman’s socio-demographic characteristics, 2015-16 MDHS

Overall sample

24,562 (100)

2,988 (12.2)

15,355 (62.5)

6,219 (25.3)

5,574 (22.7)

13,162 (53.6)

5,826 (23.7)

Ethinicity

\(<0.0001\)

\(<0.0001\)

      Tumbuka/Tonga/other

7,741 (31.5)

527 (06.8)

4,736 (61.2)

2,478 (32.0)

1,771 (22.9)

4,185 (54.1)

1,785 (23.1)

      Lomwe/Yao/Sena

8,388 (34.2)

1,320 (15.7)

5,274 (62.9)

1,794 (21.4)

1,801 (21.5)

4,623 (55.1)

1,964 (23.4)

      Chewa/Nyanja

8,433 (34.3)

1,141 (13.5)

5,345 (63.4)

1,947 (23.1)

2,002 (23.7)

4,354 (51.6)

2,077 (24.6)

Religion

\(<0.0001\)

\(<0.0001\)

      None/other

151 (00.6)

58 (38.4)

69 (45.7)

24 (15.9)

23 (15.2)

79 (52.3)

49 (32.5)

      Muslim

2,726 (11.1)

614 (22.5)

1,731 (63.5)

381 (14.0)

530 (19.4)

1,476 (54.1)

720 (26.4)

      Christian

21,685 (88.3)

2,316 (10.7)

13,555 (62.5)

5,814 (26.8)

5,021 (23.2)

11,607 (53.5)

5,057 (23.3)

Wealth status

\(<0.0001\)

\(<0.0001\)

      Poor

8,708 (35.5)

1,706 (19.6)

6,338 (72.8)

664 (07.6)

1,491 (17.1)

4,840 (55.6)

2,377 (27.3)

      Middle

4,508 (18.4)

599 (13.3)

3,270 (72.5)

639 (14.2)

928 (20.6)

2,331 (51.7)

1,249 (27.7)

      Rich

11,346 (46.2)

683 (06.0)

5,747 (50.7)

4,916 (43.3)

3,155 (27.8)

5,991 (52.8)

2,200 (19.4)

Marital status

\(<0.0001\)

\(<0.0001\)

      Unmarried

5,326 (21.7)

103 (01.9)

3,074 (57.7)

2,149 (40.3)

4,595 (86.3)

710 (13.3)

21 (00.4)

      Married/cohabited

15,952 (64.9)

2,283 (14.3)

10,244 (64.2)

3,425 (21.5)

886 (05.6)

10,336 (64.8)

4,730 (29.7)

      Separated/other

3,284 (13.4)

602 (18.3)

2,037 (62.0)

645 (19.6)

93 (02.8)

2,116 (64.4)

1,075 (32.7)

Occupation

\(<0.0001\)

\(<0.0001\)

      Not working

8,422 (34.3)

805 (09.6)

5,261 (62.5)

2,356 (28.0)

3,209 (38.1)

3,906 (46.4)

1,307 (15.5)

      Domestic/Nonformal

14,093 (57.4)

2,095 (14.9)

9,399 (66.7)

2,599 (18.4)

2,059 (14.6)

7,862 (55.8)

4,172 (29.6)

      Professional/formal

2,047 (08.3)

88 (04.3)

695 (34.0)

1,264 (61.7)

306 (14.9)

1,394 (68.1)

347 (17.0)

Contraceptive use

\(<0.0001\)

\(<0.0001\)

      Non-user/other

13,574 (55.3)

1,591 (11.7)

8,279 (61.0)

3,704 (27.3)

5,248 (38.7)

5,934 (43.7)

2,392 (17.6)

      User

10,988 (44.7)

1,397 (10.3)

7,076 (52.1)

2,515 (18.5)

326 (02.4)

7,228 (53.2)

3,434 (25.3)

Place of residence

\(<0.0001\)

\(<0.0001\)

      Urban

5,247 (21.4)

227 (04.3)

2,215 (42.2)

2,805 (53.5)

1,521 (29.0)

3,082 (58.7)

644 (12.3)

      Rural

19,315 (78.6)

2,761 (14.3)

13,140 (68.0)

3,414 (17.7)

4,053 (21.0)

10,080 (52.2)

5,182 (26.8)

Region

\(<0.0001\)

\(<0.0001\)

      Northern

4,803 (19.6)

196 (04.1)

3,015 (62.8)

1,592 (33.1)

1,090 (22.7)

2,598 (54.1)

1,115 (23.2)

      Central

8,417 (34.3)

1,104 (13.1)

5,272 (62.6)

2,041 (24.2)

2,038 (24.2)

4,362 (51.8)

2,017 (24.0)

      Southern

11,342 (46.2)

1,688 (14.9)

7,068 (62.3)

2,586 (22.8)

2,446 (21.6)

6,202 (54.7)

2,694 (23.8)

Median age (SD)

37 (8.82)

26 (9.28)

25 (7.57)

17 (4.)

26 (6.93)

39 (5.74)

Median age at 1st sex (SD)

15 (2.72)

16 (2.61)

18 (3.10)

17 (3.57)

16 (2.60)

16 (2.45)

Raw correlation (pval)

-0.3917 (\(<0.0001\))