Gender and development: searching for explanations for fertility changes in rural Pakistan.

In 10 communities in rural Punjab Pakistan a total of 1036 women 15-40 years old were interviewed during 1993-94 as part of a larger project. The variables used in the analysis consisted of community womens status socioeconomic household characteristics and fertility. In the rainfed region the majority of women engaged in unpaid work on their own farm while in the irrigated areas wage employment was more common for women. Education was also highly valued in the rainfed region to improve nonagricultural employment opportunities. Over 70% of rural Punjabi women needed permission to leave their homes and only 28% could go alone to a health center. Only 20% of women in southern Punjab could go unescorted to the local market as compared to more than half the respondents in central Punjab. The total number of children ever born was the highest at 4.6 in the peri-urban site of Rakh Kikrian and the lowest in the semi-irrigated areas at 3.1. The ideal family size was high (4.0) even in the peri-urban areas. Slightly less than half of the women under 40 wanted no more children. Current contraceptive use was the highest in peri-urban areas and it was the lowest in southern Punjab. The intercommunity variation in fertility was significant and closely related to the level of socioeconomic development. There was an overriding reliance on sons which created inequality in gender relations especially in rural communities. The rainfed areas had a significant higher rate of contraceptive use (odds ratio = 1.69) than the peri-urban areas (odds ratio = 1.93). Although no unique predictor of fertility change emerged as a determinant fertility change was clearly underway in rural Punjab in 1993.