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Women's autonomy, women's status and fertility-related behavior in Zimbabwe
Authors: Michelle J. Hindin
Source: Population Research and Policy Review, 19(3): 255–282
Topic(s): Contraception
Fertility
Gender
Women's autonomy
Women's status
Country: Africa
  Zimbabwe
Published: JUN 2000
Abstract: Women's household decision-making autonomy is a potentially important but less studied indicator of women's ability to control their fertility. Using a DHS sample of 3,701 married black African women from Zimbabwe, I look at women who have no say in major purchases, whether they should work outside the home,and the number of children. When men dominated all household decisions, women were less likely to approve of contraceptive use, discuss their desired number of children with their spouse, report ever use of a modern method of contraception, and to intend to use contraception in the future. However, women's decision-making autonomy was not associated with current modern contraceptive use. Women who had no decision-making autonomy had 0.26 more children than women who had some autonomy. These autonomy measures provide additional independent explanatory power of fertility-related behavior net of traditional measures of women's status such as education and labor force participation. Autonomy contraception gender fertility