Determinants of the Libyan Family Size level in the City of Sousse: A Study in Population Geography

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the reality of trends in the determinants of Libyan family size. The city of Sousse was taken as a model that expresses the factors that contributed to determining the level of Libyan family size. In collecting data for the subject of the study, population censuses from 1973 to 2006 were taken, with a sample of 50 people being taken. A member of the study population was distributed to a questionnaire containing 23 questions to fill in the missing data that could not be obtained from the theoretical framework. In its methodology, the study relied on a combination of more than one method, including the historical method that was relied upon to track the changes that occurred in family size in the study area, and the analytical method that was relied upon in analyzing the data, which was collected from the theoretical framework and the field study by using statistical techniques used in Analyzing social and demographic data and drawing conclusions from them.The results of the study showed that there is a group of determinants that led to a decrease in family size in the study area, the most important of which are the social determinants, including the woman’s first marital age and the high educational level of women. Then comes the second economic determinants, including the level of family income and female involvement in the workforce, then in last place are the demographic determinants, which had no effect in regulating family size, such as the fertility rate, the natural and unnatural increase in the population, and the change in place of residence and marital status of the population.