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  • Title: A study of rural women's decision-making power on reproduction and fertility.
    Author: Jin H.
    Journal: Chin J Popul Sci; 1995; 7(3):241-57. PubMed ID: 12290860.
    Abstract:
    This research examines the determinants of women's decision making power in reproduction and the determinants of actual number of children ever born in poor remote rural areas of China. Survey data are gathered from over 300 married women in 11 poor counties in Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Inner Mongolia. The sample included women with an average age of 33.1 years. 60% of the sample desired two children. 22% of wives, 28% of husbands, and 32% of families desired three or more children. Over 85% of wives, husbands, and families desired at least one boy. 80-85% of couples aged below 36 years expected to have less children and had lower preferences for boys. 41% of couples claimed that reproductive decisions were made by the family as a whole, which is understood to mean the husband's desires. Wives generally expected to have less children than husbands. 14% of the sample showed wives desiring fewer children than husbands, while only 1% of the sample showed husbands desiring fewer children than wives. The differences in family size desired between husbands and wives were statistically significant. Only 22% of wives had a substantial part in making decisions about family size. Differences between the actual number of children born and the wife's desired number of children were greater than differences in actual and desired childbearing for husbands or families. Most women delivered children an average of 2.6 years earlier than desired. Fewer couples with income below RMB500 believed that family planning policies limited their reproduction. The final regression model reveals that fertility was related significantly to wife's educational level. Lower fertility was associated with a junior high or higher level of education. Lower fertility was also related to whether the first child was a boy, to an income greater than RMB500, and to reproduction being determined by family planning policies or wives. Women's reproductive decision making was significantly determined by relative economic status in the family, particularly women's educational level and the degree of participation in production.
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