The impact of women's social position on fertility in developing countries

This paper examines ideas about possible ways in which the extent of women's autonomy, women's economic dependency, and other aspects of their position vis-à-vis men influence fertility in Third World populations. Women's position or “status” seems likely to be related to the supply of children because of its links with age at marriage. Women's position may also affect the demand for children and the costs of fertility regulation, though some connections suggested in the literature are implausible. The paper ends with suggestions for future research.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45660/1/11206_2005_Article_BF01124382.pd

The status of women: Conceptual and methodological issues in demographic studies

This paper explores several conceptual problems in social demographic studies of the status of women, including failure to recognize the multidimensionality of women's status and its variation across social “locations,” the confounding of gender and class stratification systems, and the confounding of access to resources with their control. Also discussed are some generic problems in the measurement of female status, such as the sensitivity of particular indicators to social context, and the need to select consistent comparisons when judging the extent of gender inequality.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45651/1/11206_2005_Article_BF01115740.pd

Do population programs violate women's human rights?

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/In September 1994 an International Conference on Population and Development, involving government leaders and nongovernmental organizations, will convene in Cairo to debate future population policy for the globe. A major issue that will underlie this debate is whether fertility control programs, which have become very widespread, violate women's human rights and ignore their health and other needs. Many groups advocate that these programs be replaced with programs that enhance women's health, education, or status without explicitly attempting to control their fertility. But is the charge that population programs violate women's human rights valid? And will the proposed women's health and education programs be financially sustainable and effective for reducing population growth? Finding the correct answers to these questions is critical because without further reductions in fertility the world's population will double by 2025 to over 10 billion people. Because of this threat, improving the quality of fertility control programs seems preferable to abandoning them altogether

Is the situation of women in Asia improving or deteriorating?

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/Using several indicators of status, this report assesses Asian women's situation, especially in relation to men, in a variety of economic and cultural settings. Where possible, it describes changes in their situation during the last three to four decades and notes tendencies toward improvement or degradation according to a society's development level. The evidence reviewed indicates that despite economic development, a society's social and cultural traditions can have an enduring impact on women's lives. Nevertheless, in most part of Asia, women today appear to be better off than their counterparts of 20-30 years ago. The corresponding Asia-Pacific Population Research Abstract is available as a PDF file

Changing family in comparative perspective : Asia and the United States

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/Contents: Family formation in Japan, South Korea, and the United States: an overview / Shunichi Inoue -- Changing marriage patterns in South Korea / Minja Kim Choe -- Changing significance of marriage in the United States / Larry L. Bumpass -- Time allocation between employment and housework in Japan, South Korea, and the United States / Noriko O. Tsuya, Larry L. Bumpass -- Wives' economic decision-making power in the family: five Asian countries / Karen Oppenheim Mason -- Dealing with a double day: role strain among married working women in Japan and South Korea / Tim Futing Liao --Husbands' drinking and spouses' well-being in Japan and South Korea / Eise Yokoyama, Noriko O. Tsuya -- Intergenerational relations in South Korea / Moon-Sik Hong, Yong-Chan Byun -- Intergenerational contact in the United States and Japan / Ronald R. Rindfuss, R. Kelly Raley -- Family and intergenerational income transfers in Taiwan / Andrew Mason, Tim Miller -- Family processes and their implications for families in the future / Larry L. Bumpass, Karen Oppenheim Mason -- Appendix: summary of main project surveys

Muslim and Non-Muslim Differences in Female Autonomy and Fertility: Evidence from Four Asian Countries

On the basis of research on paired Muslim and non-Muslim communities selected in India, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, the authors test the hypothesis that greater observed Muslim pronatalism can be explained by less power or lower autonomy among Muslim women. Indeed, wives in the Muslim communities, compared to the non-Muslim ones: 1) had more children, 2) were more likely to desire additional children, and 3) if they desired no more children, were less likely to be using contraception. However, the authors do not find that Muslim communities consistently score lower on dimensions of women's power/autonomy. Thus, aggregate-level comparisons provide little evidence of a relationship between lower autonomy and higher fertility. Individual-level multivariate analysis of married women in these paired settings similarly suggests that women's autonomy differentials do not account for the higher fertility, demand for more children, and less use of contraception among Muslim wives. These results suggest that explanations for Muslim/non-Muslim fertility differences lie elsewhere. Copyright 2002 by The Population Council, Inc..

ATTITUDES TOWARD WOMEN'S FAMILIAL ROLES:

Changes between 1977 and 1985 in women's and men's attitudes toward women's familial roles were examined using National Opinion Research Center General Social Survey data. Despite speculation that a backlash against feminism occurred during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and evidence from past studies of a possible slowdown in gender-role attitude change, the data show a significant increase in profeminist views of the wife and mother roles among both women and men. More of this change occurred within cohorts than through cohort succession. With the exception of college-graduate women, whose support for gender equality was high at both periods, the profeminist trend occurred about equally in all sociodemographic subgroups of the population, although even in 1985, men were less feminist in orientation than women.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67495/2/10.1177_089124388002001004.pd