The impact of husband's and wife's education and occupation on family size in Zimbabwe
Adamchak, D.J.; Mbizvo, M.T.
Journal of Biosocial Science 26(4): 553-558
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-9320 PMID: 7983105 DOI: 10.1017/s0021932000021672Document Number: 313173
This paper assesses the impact of husband's and wife's education and occupation on family size in Zimbabwe. A United Nations study found that in countries at higher levels of socioeconomic development, where family planning programmes are strong, and where female education is relatively high, the relationship between women's occupation and fertility will be negative and strong. Zimbabwe meets these criteria in the African context, and is on the brink of demographic transition as fertility shows signs of decline. Results from the 1988 Male Fertility Survey indicate that husband's education had a strong negative effect, and wife's education had a moderate effect on the number of children ever born. Wives who were not employed had fewer children than those who work in agriculture, and fewer, but not significantly, than those in non-agricultural occupations. Findings show the importance of husband's education and the changing dynamics of wife's occupation in fertility decline. Research should not only concentrate on the status of women, but also on the interaction of male and female roles and relations in the context of the status of women. Although Zimbabwe appears to be on the brink of fertility transition, the findings indicate that gender-specific structural variables are not always operating with similar magnitude or in the same direction, which suggests that gender relations are an important factor in fertility decline.