In the latest workshop on Computational Social Sciences, Assistant Professor Xinguang FAN from the Department of Sociology, Peking University, was invited to introduce to UM students and teachers the impact of the epidemic on fertility and the changes in fertility behavior during the epidemic, based on the motivation of the research on the relationship between the epidemic and birth rate.
By combining computational methods with traditional modeling, Prof. FAN analyzed data from the Fertility Action Surveillance Surveys (FAS) in Burkina Faso and Kenya, including information on conceptions, terminations, and births. The results showed that although there was no significant change in pregnancy termination rates in either country, there was an increase in conception rates in Kenya about six months after the outbreak. The results also showed that rural areas may have had no access to contraception, leading to an increase in conceptions, while urban areas had no access to health care due to the outbreak, leading to a decrease in pregnancy termination rates.
