Education and the quality-quantity trade-off in Pakistani women's fertility decisions

Type Report
Title Education and the quality-quantity trade-off in Pakistani women's fertility decisions
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2001
URL http://econpapers.repec.org/RePEc:fth:bereco:1801
Abstract
In this paper we explore the mechanisms causing the negative association between females' education and fertility in Pakistan.: Empirical studies in various developing countries find a negative association between female education and fertility. In this paper we explore two alternative mechanisms causing the negative relationship between mothers’ education and fertility. We find a negative relationship between females’ education, fertility and their time allocated in the labour market in Pakistan and estimate a large positive effect of mothers’ education on measures of child quality. An increase in the mother’s education is associated with large improvements in children’s probability of survival, school attainment and probability of getting immunisation. Our findings suggest that in Pakistan the effect of women’s education on fertility, most likely, works through increased investments in child quality but not through increase in her labour force participation.

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