Fertility pattern among working women in formal and informal sector

Amita Pradhan, Tribhuvan University

FERTILITY PATTERN AMONG WORKING WOMEN IN FORMAL AND INFORMAL SECTOR The unmet desire for the children is one of issues not addressed properly. Competition in labour market and lack of incentives during pregnancy and childbirth in workplace, changing women’s status may have impact on fertility. Objective • To describe the fertility pattern among women participating in labour force. • To determine the unmet desire for the children among these women. Methodology Women working in different institutions in formal and informal sectors in Kathmandu are studied. Total of 197 women between age group of 15 to 45 are selected. An interview using semi structured questionnaire is conducted to collect data. Result Around 13 percent of the respondents want additional children however due to various reasons they do not intend to have another children. All the illiterate women do not want to have additional children whereas women with higher degree and working in formal sector desire to have more children. Women from joint and nuclear family in formal and informal sector do not have significant differences in this regard. Women in age group of 15-34 years and who earn 25000-33000/month have more desire. Due to time factor, and other reasons, women do not want another child even if they get the maternity facilities. Mother and in-laws help majority of these women during office hours. The average ideal number of children is 1.78 whereas the average actual number of children is 1.63 (p = .03). The mean age at marriage for the respondents is 22.71 and first birth of child is 23.31. Conclusion The women with high income and age group of 15-34 have unmet desire for additional children. Time factor and economic conditions is the vital. Women with single child do not prefer to conceive again but women with two daughters…