Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/177066 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 11262
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We document evidence on preferences for childbearing in developing countries. Across countries, men usually desire larger families than women do. Within countries, we find wide dispersion in spouses' desired fertility: there are many couples whose ideal family size differs by five children or more. This disagreement between spouses suggests that the extent to which women are empowered should matter for fertility choices. We point to evidence at both the macro and micro levels that this is indeed the case. We conclude that taking account of household bargaining and women's empowerment in analyses of fertility is an important challenge for research.
Subjects: 
women's empowerment
desired fertility
marital bargaining
JEL: 
J12
J13
J16
O10
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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