Fertility differentials by occupation type among ever married Kenyan women

Abstract

This study was aimed at exploring variations in women's work patterns and the relationship between women's work and fertility using data from KDHS 1993. Four occupational groups were distinguished: Modern (Professional,Clerical); Transitional (Domestic Household Employee, Service); Mixed (Sales, Skilled and Unskilled); and Traditional (Agriculture). The majority of the women worked in traditional sector and the mixed sector. The relationship between women's' work and fertility concluded that women in the modern and transitional occupation bore fewer children on average than the women in the traditional occupation. The level of fertility in the transitional sector compared very well with fertility in the modern sector and the level of fertility in the mixed sector was as high as the fertility in the traditional sector. The relationship between women's work and the intermediate variables (desired family size ,contraceptive use,and breastfeeding) showed that modern methods of contraception were widely used by the women who were in modern sector than in any other sector. However breast feeding was found to be popular among Kenyan women irrespective of type of occupation. Occupation was less often significant in explaining variations in family size desires and total children ever born. The main conclusion was that the effect on fertility can be explained by type of occupation not withstanding level of education Although the more incompatible jobs were and to be those that required longer periods of training like the modern sector, job types that had long working hours and where opportunity cost was most effective as is in the transtion sector were found to have had a negative effect on fertility.