Family structure and fertility: a note on urban fertility patterns
Desai, A.N.
Social Action 24: 325-330
1974
ISSN/ISBN: 0037-7627 PMID: 12333665 Document Number: 391801
The relationships between socioeconomic status and fertility and between family structure and fertility were studied in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Data was collected on family structure, education, income, and fertility preferences of 136 mothers. The conjugal role relationships of each couple were classified as joint, segregated, or intermediate. Socioeconomic status was determined and classified as high, medium, and low. Higher status wizes desire, expect, and have fewer births than do low status women (p is less than .01). Women who have joint conjugal roles expect an average of 2.8 births, while segregated women expect almost 1 more child per couple (3.6); the number of children expected increases as conjugal role segregation increases. Socioeconomic status is more closely related to each of the fertility variables than is family structure. Family structure does influence reproductive behavior and is related to socioeconomic status, but it plays a lesser role.