Female employment and fertility: a study based on Chilean data

Conflicting studies bring into question the hypothesis that increased employment opportunities for women in the modern sector would reduce the population growth rate. To help clarify the situation, data from about 4000 families in central Chile, obtained from interviews in 1965, are used to test 3 hypotheses: 1) that in the traditional sector of the economy, young children do not adversely affect the mother's labor force participation; 2) that in the modern sector, child care reduces labor force participation unless there are relatives or older children to look after the young children; and 3) that young children also have a positive influence on female employment in that they increase the need for added income. This would be particularly true in the traditional sector where average household income is lower. All hypotheses were proved true by the data. Furthermore, the positive effect on the mother's employment of a larger family size proved to be true in the modern sector as well as the traditional sector. The study indicates that if a country's objective is to lower the population growth rate, a population planning program relying on higher rates of fe male employment will have to be accompanied by other socioeconomic policies intended to achieve a higher level of economic development.