Chapter 8 Demand for children in low income countries

• Published in: Handbook of Population and Family Economics Vol. 1; pp. 349 - 430
• Main Author: Schultz, T. Paul
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 1997
• ISBN: 0444826459; 9780444826459
• ISSN: 1574-003X
• DOI: 10.1016/S1574-003X(97)80025-6

This chapter outlines the economic models for understanding the empirical regularities in fertility in low-income countries. Applications of microeconomics to understand the demand for children emphasize several special aspects of children. Their cost to parents is affected by the opportunity cost of the time of mothers, who in most societies contribute a disproportionate share of their time to child rearing. Demand models predict and empirical studies confirm that increase in women's wages and education have a more negative impact on fertility than do increase in men's wages and education, or, for that matter, than does nonhuman capital income, which is indeed often associated with increased fertility in low-income agricultural settings. The changing composition of income between labor and nonhuman capital and between male and female productivity are as important for the decline in fertility as the overall level of national income. An increasing number of studies that suggest programs increasing the schooling of women, improving child health and nutrition, and diffusing family planning methods have contributed to the declines in child mortality, fertility, and population growth rates in low-income developing countries.