Association of women’s occupation with actual and ideal number of children in Bangladesh: a case of role incompatibility

Women who were involved in the professional/managerial work were more likely to have two or fewer living children compared to those who were not working (OR = 1.31; 95% CI = 1.11-1.55). In model 2, when further adjusted for socioeconomic characteristics, including wealth index and years of education, the association between occupation and having two or fewer living children remained significant with OR attenuated a bit (OR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.08-1.47). In model 3, we further adjusted for the use of modern contraception, access to mass media index, and whether a family planning worker visited the respondent. After adjusting for these factors, the association between professional occupation and the outcome became a bit stronger than the earlier model (OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.16-1.58). Additionally, the association of agricultural jobs with the outcome became marginally significant (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 0.98-1.46).

Table 3 presents the odds ratios of having <2 ideal number of children. Model 1 included women's occupational categories, age, number of living children, place of residence, and religion. The results in model 1 show that women in pro - fessional/skilled job had higher odds (OR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.29-1.99) of having <2 ideal number of children compared to those who were not working. Women in agricultural jobs were also more likely (OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.06-1.55) than those who were not working to have <2 ideal number of children. In model 2, when we further adjusted for wealth index and education, the strength of the association for professional women remained similar (OR =1.60, 95% CI = = 1.29-2.00) and the association for women in agriculture was a bit stronger (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.09-1.63) compared to model 1. Additionally, in model 2, unskilled women were more likely to have <2 ideal number of children (OR = = 1.29, 95% CI = 0.98-1.70). Lastly, when further adjusted for the use of modern contraception, media exposure index, and whether the respondent was visited by a family planning worker, the estimated association of professional job decreased to 1.51 (p<0.01) from 1.61 in Model 1 (Table 3), a reduction of about 10%. Th e association of agricultural jobs remained relatively similar, while unskilled/do - mestic work became no longer signifi cantly diff erent than not working.

Figure 1 shows the predicted probabilities of having <2 living children by occupation and exposure to mass media index. Predicted probabilities show that women with a professional job have a higher probability of having <2 living children at the higher levels of exposure to mass media compared to women in other occupations (not working, unskilled, and agriculture). These probabilities highlight that mass media may have an amplifying effect on influencing women to have a smaller family, especially among those who are in professional jobs. This is likely because women in professional sectors are more likely to possess mass media (e.g., TV) and exposure to the media messages about family planning.

Discussion. The declining fertility has been a critical component in the recent demographic transition in many low-income countries, including Bangladesh. In particular, the achievement of the replacement level fertility has been a common population policy goal in many low-income and pro-natalist countries. Towards achieving this goal, the family planning programs in Bangladesh have long been publicizing the slogans «Boy or girl, two children are enough» and «One child is ideal» [29]. In line with these national family planning and population control policy goals, our analysis focused on examining the associations of women's occupation with the actual and ideal number of children at the replacement level.

In general, our analysis found strong evidence that women employed in professional/skilled and agricultural jobs had a higher likelihood of having both smaller actual and ideal number of children goals than those who were not working. The occupational differences in the outcomes remained significant even after adjustment for several demographic, socioeconomic, and demand and supply-side factors of family planning. The analysis also found that the strength of the association of women's occupation with having two or fewer number of children varies by the levels of exposure to mass media.

The analysis found that employed women, particularly in the professional job and agriculture, are more likely to have an actual and ideal number of children at the replacement level. We hypothesized that a full-time wage employment, in many ways, makes it harder for a woman to have a large number of children because of the underlying role incompatibility issue. The key to the role incompatibility is the perceived stress of combining participation in the labor force and the responsibilities of childcare [30]. Our findings provide evidence for the role incompatibility hypothesis as professional women are highly likely to have both actual and ideal number of children at the replacement level in the fully adjusted models. Previous studies reported similar associations showing that women who have a professional job tend to have late and low birth [16, 17, 31, 32].

It is interesting to notice that much like women in professional/skilled jobs, women in agriculture were also more likely to have lower fertility norms. Although working on the farm, either as a wage laborer or an owner of the farm, arguably provides flexibility and time to combine childcare and farm work, changes in the farm structure may discourage women from desiring for higher fertility. In particular, the seemingly declining higher fertility norms among women in agriculture may be the indirect result of the reduced demand for household labor, especially child labor in agriculture. Over the past several decades, there has been a decline in average farm size, an increase in landlessness, and an increase in the mechanization of agriculture, all of which notably helped alter the high fertility norms in rural Bangladesh [33]. Additionally, women's entry into agricultural jobs can increase their social status and exert increased control over their reproductive life by potentially contributing to the household income and increasing their power in the household decision-making process [34]. Studies have shown that women who have higher levels of power in the family are better able to meet their contraceptive needs and control fertility [35-39].

We conceptualized that media exposure has a significant influence on creating awareness among women, particularly during pregnancy periods [40]. Previous studies showed that mass media had a considerable impact on reducing the rate of fertility by changing family planning behavior. Campaigns for family planning in mass media have been successful in Bangladesh [41, 42]. Studies argued that the implementation of a robust family planning program, along with the mass media campaign, has directly or indirectly helped controlling fertility behavior [43]. The use of modern contraception is shown to have a strong influence on determining the number of children born in India and Bangladesh [44], primarily as women in these countries use permanent methods after completing the desired number of kids [45].

The study's main strength is that it used a nationally representative sample, and the findings can be inferred to the national level. Despite this strenght, we acknowledge two major limitations. First, we were unable to control for some other confounding factors which may directly or indirectly influence the desire for actual and ideal number of children. For instance, the health condition of the study subjects, whether women live in an extended family, whether women have access to affordable childcare, and husband's/partner's characteristics are notable confounders that we could not control for in our regression model.

Second, we note that there is a bidirectional association between women's employment and fertility. That means, the number of children can also work as an independent variable and determine women's labor force participation.

Conclusion. Demographic patterns of fertility have changed significantly in the last four decades in Bangladesh. Our analysis has demonstrated that women who participate in the labor force, especially in the professional sector and agriculture, are more likely to attain the replacement or lower levels of fertility and limit the intention of large family size. In other words, these findings confirm that women's increased economic status is inversely associated with fertility-related behaviors. Such an inverse association has less frequently been reported in low-income and pro-natalist societies, where women's work is often combined with childcare. The existence of such an inverse association has implications for population policy in low-income countries. In particular, policymakers in population programs can promote incomegenerating activities and encourage women's participation in economic spheres, which have the potential to lower the fertility and control population growth. Progressive policies for women's economic empowerment, as outlined in the National Women Development Policy (NWDP) of 2011 in Bangladesh, will help the formulation of multisectoral programs for controlling population growth in general and achieving the fertility-related policy goals in particular. Most importantly, although NWDP has broadly set forth the policy goals for women's equal opportunities to health, education, and income-generating skill development programs, the formulation of a comprehensive national implementation strategy, in the light of the NWDP, is urgently required. Finally, the evidence found in our analysis implies that providing greater access to economic resources and education would not only benefit the economic welfare of the womenfolk but control the population growth in low-income settings such as Bangladesh.

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