Socioeconomic factors and fertility in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia
Sufian, A.J.
Biology and Society the Journal of the Eugenics Society 7(4): 186-193
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0266-3880 PMID: 12316707 Document Number: 314769
A survey of fertility in the Saudi Arabian city of Al-Khobar, taken from 398 randomly selected health care center files, subjected explanatory variables to regression analysis. 205 families were Saudi, 293 were non-Saudi Arabs, and 74 were non-Arabs. Three regressions were done by nationality, Saudi, all Arabs combined or total sample. Mean number of living children ranged from 5.03 for Saudis to 3.90 for the total group. This may be related to the educational status, which was significantly higher for both husbands and wives of the non-Saudis. For Saudis, the wife's age and annual income were significantly and positively related to number of children. Wife's high or medium education was associated with significantly fewer children. For all Arabs, the wife's age, income, occupation and education and the husband's education were associated with number of children: higher income with more children and higher education with fewer. The wife's working outside the home was linked with fewer children. For the total sample, the patterns were similar. The Saudi women had more children as they aged; neither wife's occupation nor husband's education affected fertility; and only the Saudi husbands who were businessmen had fewer children. In all groups, however, the wife's education, high or medium, depressed fertility more than any other factor.