Female employment and fertility: further investigation of an ambivalent association
Sathar, Z.A.; Kazi, S.
Pakistan Development Review 28(3): 175-193
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0030-9729 PMID: 12283030 DOI: 10.2307/41259231Document Number: 369831
The findings are presented of a 1987 survey of 1000 married women in Karachi, Pakistan, to examine the relationship between female employment and fertility. Variations in fertility behaviour by employment status or category, are assessed and intra-household factors which complement female employment to influence fertility in Pakistan are identified. Data used in the analysis were collected by means of a structured questionnaire administered to 680 working and 320 non-working women: the category of working women is further classified into 6 major groups. Women in high calibre occupations are more likely to have had late marriages and hence have 50% the family size of those engaged in lower status occupations. Variations in the level of entry into the labour force relative to the stage in child-bearing, an embodiment of old age security in male children and access to means of fertility control are important factors explaining female fertility differential. There is an inverse relation between child mortality and female employment status.