Open AccessDeterminants of Family Size Preferences in Pakistan
Author(s) -
Syed Mubashir Ali
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
pakistan development review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.154
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 0030-9729
DOI - 10.30541/v28i3pp.207-232
Subject(s) - wife , principal (computer security) , demographic economics , psychology , demography , sociology , economics , political science , computer science , law , operating system
The paper attempts to investigate and identify some of themost important predictors of family size-preferences in Pakistan. Basedon cross-sectional data relating to 9416 currently married women, theresults of this study suggest that having one or more sons in the familyis the principal predictor of the desired family size. Yet anotherimportant predictor is the education of the wife which plays a criticalrole in the family size determination. The study shows that thepreferences for family size do not vary greatly between urban and ruralareas. However, it seems that if more refined measures of suchpreferences are used in the future surveys, the practice would provide abetter understanding of the prevailing reproductive norms in differentsegments of the society.