Introduction
Fertility is one of most important factors of demographic studies; alarming Total Fertility
Rate (TFR) threatens developing indicators in many ways. Gender equality, child and infant
mortality, achieving of universal education, higher incidence of AIDS/HIV and environmental
sustainability are few of them. Ghana has experienced a greater decline in fertility rate than
any other country in West Africa, and drawn special interest of policy-makers and
demographers. Even though Ghana has a rapid decline in fertility, it still needs a high
attention, due to the mismatched causality between fertility decline and fertility theories.
However, the low rate of fertility in Ghana has not contributed to slower population growth
due to the “demographic deficit”, and the age structure shows population momentum. This
phenomenon has hit the Ghanaian economy very severely and may subject a society to
potentially disruptive, political and social movements due to an increased burden on higher
education, proper housing, the labor market pressure and sexual health.
Many studies have been carried out in Ghana in order to confirm the most efficient methods
to control fertility rates. Of all contributing factors, men’s dominance plays the vital role in
family planning. However, little explored are the ways in which men’s dominance in fertility
decisions is associated with Socio- Economic (SEC) factors and gender attitudes. If family
planing agendas are to succeed, they should recognize the male role and and its power.
Understanding of the SEC characteristics and gender roles of future potential parents (young
men) who have the fertility aspirations of the ideal number of children is essential, as it would
help in achieving expected TFR in Ghana.
Research Objectives& Research Questions
The study had two research questions. 1. What are the determinants of low fertility ideals
among young men in Ghana?2 .What is the association between characteristics of young men
in Ghana in describing potentially related fertility aspirations and how well they are
associated with ideal family size?. In order to answer the research questions, the three
research objectives were established. (1).To assess the (SEC) determinants of positive
deviants)1
, (2) To assess the gender attitudes of the positive deviants, and (3) To examine the

1 Meaning of the term will be clarified in chapter 4
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value of the characteristics of young men in Ghana in describing potentially related fertility
aspirations and test how well they are associated with ideal family size. When considering
fertility ideals in Ghana, positive deviants can be defined as young men who have no children
yet whose fertility ideals are between 1 and 3 children. The rationale for selecting young men
is that they have the potential to define gender roles and they are potential parents.
Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks
This study adapted the Positive Deviance (PD) approach in order to answer research questions
1 and 2 and adapted the T-D-I-B (Traits-Desires-Intentions-Behaviors) model that was
developed by W.B. Miller (1992; 2011, 2012 ) based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)
in order to address the third research question. This study referred to the dependent variable as
men’s fertility intention, while recognizing that it includes elements of both desires and
intentions. Among the many factors affecting fertility outcomes, this study concentrated on
two main background characteristics, i.e. (1) gender attitudes and (2) SEC factors.
Methodology
This study employed the PD approach for identifying the gender and SEC determinants of the
positive deviants. Logistic regression was performed to assess the impact of a number of
factors on two types of fertility ideals of young men (referred to as positive and non-positive
deviants). The model contained 13 independent variables divided into two main groups
(Gender attitude and SEC determinants; educational achievement, age, working status,
occupational group, religion, marital status, wealth index, ethnicity, region, position in the
household, sex of the household head and type of place of residence. Analysis was performed
using SPSS logistic version 23. This study used secondary data from the latest GDHS in
2014 that comprises a wide range of variables and a larger sample size that helped
generalization of the results.
Findings and Discussion
The majority of the positive deviants were young, urban residents, lived in Greater Accra, had
Pentecostal charismatic religious affiliations, and had Akan ethnicity. They had partially or
fully completed secondary level or higher education, belonged to richer households (not the
richest), had never been married or entered into union, lived in a household with a male
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household head, and were usually the son of the family. Most were working in a
comparatively high status and skilled job in the agricultural sector. Most importantly, the vast
majority never justified wife beating; in other words, they never accepted intimate partner
violence (IPV) for any reason.
The final model containing all predictors was statistically significant, χ2 (16, N = 1391) =
219.77, p < .001, (95%) indicating that the model was able to distinguish between
respondents who were positive and non-positive deviants. The model as a whole explained
between 14.6% (Cox and Snell R square) and 20.2% (Nagelkerke R squared) of the variance
in fertility ideals and, correctly classified 65.3% of cases, all predictors were significant;
therefore, the study was able to reject the null hypothesis.
Conclusions
The research revealed that gender attitude, wealth index, region, religion, positions in the
household, sex of the household head, and level of education were statistically significantly
associated to fertility ideals. The other predictors of fertility ideals that were not statistically
significant were: respondent’s age, working status, occupational group, type of place of
residence, ethnicity, and marital status, not included in the final model. The variance
explained by the statistical model was mostly significant. Although the seven aforementioned
predictors were significant, they do not reveal much about what differentiates fertility ideals
among young men in Ghana. This thesis supported the results from prior literature that
fertility intentions are associated with the ideal family size. Ghanaian demographers and
policy makers must address gender attitudes of the young population and characteristics of the
positive deviants if they wish to reduce fertility rates in Ghana.