Women's role in household productive activities and fertility in Bangladesh
Khandker, S.R.
Journal of Economic Development 12(1): 87-115
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0254-8372 Document Number: 425366
The study indentifies the factors that affect the role of rural women in Bangladesh, and the possible impact of these factors on fertility. If female status is predetermined by variables such as woman's education, the association between woman's education and fertility many indicate causality between woman's status and fertility. An analysis of data from Bangladesh suggests that there are normal effects of assets, income, and prices on a woman's time allocation and her fertility decisions, thereby suggesting that these outcomes are not totally pre-ordained by society but are also affected by economic constraints on the individual household. Human capital variables, such as woman's education, have a strong effect on woman's fertility and work decisions, and are, therefore, potentially important policy instruments. Market interventions which raise wages, however, appear to have little immediate effect on fertility decisions, although they raise the return to education, which may effect female status over a larger time horizon.