WOMEN'S ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION, RELATIVE INCOME AND FERTILITY DECISION-MAKING IN MALAYSIA

Using the Malaysian Family Life Survey, collected under the auspices of the Rand Corporation in 1976-77, the effect of women's relative economic contribution to the household on fertility decision-making was analyzed. The underlying economic model assumed separate utility for husbands and wives and sequential decision-making about the desire for additional children. The effect on the desire for additional children of women's relative economic contribution, measured as the percent of a couple's total productive hours contributed by the wife, was assumed to be dependent on the couple's relative income position. Two multiple regression techniques were used: logistic regression and two-least squares where wife's and husband's desires for additional children were assumed to be simultaneously determined. The results of the analysis showed first that there are noticeable differences between husbands and wives: women who contribute relatively more to their households are more likely to desire additional children, while their husbands are less likely. Further simultaneity beween husbands and wives desired additional children was indicated, with wives' desires having a slightly stronger positive effect on husbands desires than vice versa. Second, relative income was not shown to be a significant variable in the Malaysian context (as measured in this data set). Third, differences among the Malay, Chinese and Indian ethnic groups were reconfirmed--Malay husbands and wives still see more economic benefit from large families than other groups.