Income, education, fertility and employment: Philippines 1973
Canlas, D.B.; Encarnacion, J.J.
Discussion Paper, Institute of Economic Development and Research, School of Economics, University of the Philippines, Diliman 28: 48
1976
Document Number: 390326
The quantitative model presented employs 5 estimated equations involving fertility, female employment, age at marriage, husband's income and a family income as endogenous variables. The model features a threshold hypothesis a propos fertility and wife's employment; the marginal effects of income and educational level are positive or negative depending on whether or not these variables fall below certain thresholds. Empirical verification was focused on a cross section of households drawn from the 1973 National Demographic Survey. Separate parameters estimates were done for all rural and urban samples. The findings for all cases and rural cases showed education of the wife as a key factor in lending a negative effect on fertility beyond certain income and education thresholds and a positive effect on the wife's participation in market activities above an income threshold. The findings highlight from a policy viewpoint the need for pushing the education threshold to zero such that more years of schooling will invariably lead to lower family size and increased market participation of the wife. For the urban case the negative marginal effect of education on fertility seems to be felt at lower years of schooling than in the rural case.