World Development Report 1984

the education of mothers increases above the pri- Womez's employment and status
mary-school level. The differences can be largeabout
four children between the highest and low- To women in developed countries it may seem that
est educational groups in Colombia, for example employment leaves little time for childcare. This is
(see Figure 6.3). seldom true for peasant women in developing
Studies also show that educating women makes countries. Family agriculture and cottage indusa
greater difference than does educating men in tries keep women close to the home and allow conreducing
family size. There are several plausible siderable flexibility in working arrangements. In
reasons for this. Children cost women more than addition, village life often ensures that there are
they do men, in time and energy (see Box 6.2). The many other people, young and old, who can look
more educated the woman, the more opportuni- after babies while mothers are working. But these
ties she gives up if she chooses to stay at home to conveniences do little to modernize a woman's
raise children. Education delays marriage for outlook or to develop a commitment to continued
women, either because marriage is put off during employment that would discourage high fertility.
schooling or because educated women are more In towns and cities women have less scope for
likely to work or to take more time to find suitable resolving the conflict between childcare and work.
husbands. In ten out of fourteen developing coun- Although there are many exceptions, research
tries studied, a woman with seven or more years of tends to show that urban women who work full
education marries at least 3.5 years later than a time, particularly in "modern" jobs, have fewer
woman who has never been to school. children. They restrict fertility in part by using con-
Educated women are also more likely to know traceptives. But of equal significance is that they
about and adopt new methods of birth control. In delay marriage-by one and a half to two years,
Kenya 22 percent of those with nine or more years according to one study of five Asian countries.
of education use contraception, as opposed to only Delay seems to affect even informal unions: a
7 percent of those with five or fewer years of edu- study of Jamaica confirmed that women who expecation.
In Mexico the comparable figures are 72 rienced no prolonged unemployment on leaving
percent and 31 percent. Such differences among school entered informal unions later than did other
education groups are only slightly reduced when women. Even if they eventually end up with the
other socioeconomic characteristics are taken into same number of children (which is generally not
account. The contrast between these countries is the case), the delay in the start of childbearing
due to other factors, including access to family reduces population growth by extending the interplanning
methods. The differences in contracep- val between generations.
tive use among education groups tend to be small Although employment seems to have an indein
countries where average use is either very low pendent effect on fertility only for women in well-
(Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal, and Pakistan) or very paid, modern jobs, more job opportunities should
high (Costa Rica, Fiji, and Korea). affect the fertility of all women indirectly, by
FIGURE 6.3
Total fertility rate by education of wife, selected countries Years of education of wife
Total fertility rate ZI m mU
6
4
2
l l 0 1-3 4-6 7+
Kenya, 1978 Colombia, 1976 Philippines, 1978 Korea, 1974
Source: Adapted from Casterline and others, 1983.
110