Why women in the Maghreb are having fewer children

The Maghreb region has seen a dramatic drop in birth rates in recent years. Most women now have fewer than three children, compared with the 7-8 children per woman that was typical in the 1970s.

Economic pressures and changing social norms are driving couples in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia to have fewer babies, with a recent study saying Maghreb fertility was at a historic low. Across all three Maghreb countries, fertility rates fell by more than half since the 1970s.