Urban-Rural Differences in the Relationship Between Women's Employment and Fertility: A Preliminary study

Abstract

Statistical study of data from the Egyptian census for 1960 shows that the child/woman ratio rises with the level of female employment in the rural areas, but falls as the level of employment rises in the urban areas. Subject to confirmation by more detailed methods, it seems that, in urban areas, provision of opportunities for women to work is of major importance in attempting to reduce national fertility levels, but this will have the opposite effect to what is intended in rural areas. Industrial or commercial work opportunities change a woman's pattern of living, and are essential to the permanent lowering of fertility to replacement levels. (Arabic summary, page 167.)