To better understand the relationships among childbearing, women's work, and women's autonomy in decision-making, researchers conducted a follow-up study to the 1983-86 Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey.

Philippines

To better understand the relationships among childbearing, women's work, and women's autonomy in decision-making, researchers conducted a follow-up study to the 1983-86 Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey. The original survey included more than 3,000 pregnant women in 33 barangays (health units), who answered questions about maternal health and nutrition. Women were surveyed in 1991-92 and again in 1994-95 to explore changes in the reproductive lives.

Research Findings

Researchers administered a follow-up survey to 2,279 rural and urban women who participated in the original 1983-86 study and the 1991-92 follow-up. In 1994-95, researchers added a sample of 500 new women, ages 15 to 25, to the survey and conducted a series of in-depth interviews with 60 women in the survey. The study concluded:

• Seventy-eight percent of women worked for pay at the time of the 1994-95 survey. Eighteen percent contributed more than half the family's income.

• Women were more likely to work for pay when they believed their husbands' income was inadequate to meet household needs. Women who had young children (under age two) were less likely to work for pay. The earning power of women who were employed consistently over time, especially those in the formal sector, increased at a greater rate when they had fewer children.

• Women's burden of domestic work was strongly affected by the number of children they had. Each child increased a woman's work burden by about 16 minutes per day. The presence of infants and preschool children in the home caused the greatest increase in domestic work. Each infant increased the workload by more than two hours per day, while each preschool child increased the workload by 52 minutes a day. Adolescents "saved" women 17 minutes per day by taking on some their mothers' domestic chores.

• When asked about decision-making in the home, most women said they made joint decisions with their spouses about major household expenditures, including land purchases and schooling of children. Women were likely to make autonomous decisions about minor household expenditures, such as buying shoes or clothing for children. In decisions about family planning, approximately two-thirds of women said they jointly decided with their husbands about whether to use contraception and which method to use. Only 12 percent of women said they made autonomous decisions. Among the women who consulted their husbands, 25 percent said in case of conflict the woman's will prevailed, while 7 percent said the husband's will prevailed.

• Modern family planning use increased birth spacing an average of 13 months, while natural methods increased birth spacing by five to seven months. However, overall, those using family planning (modern and traditional methods) had similar family sizes than those who did not use family planning.

• Among ever-married women who answered questions about domestic violence, 13.7 percent said their spouse had physically hurt them when he got angry. Women who were physically hurt by their partners were likely to be those who had more pregnancies, who contributed a higher percentage to the total household income, and whose spouse was less likely to turn over all or some of his earnings.

• Based on the 60 in-depth interviews, researchers found that family planning decision-making is a dynamic process that changes over time. In the survey, women's responses about family planning decision-making reflected their most recent decision-making experience, unlike in the in-depth interviews where women described the historical process. Overall, family planning use was secondary to having a good marital relationship.

Recommendations

Because contraceptive use increases the interval between births, which can improve both the health of the mother and the infant, policy-makers and health providers should intensify efforts to promote access to family planning and effective use of contraceptive methods. Because an increasing number of women are working outside the home and women must balance domestic and work responsibilities, employers should consider maternity leave policies, which would enhance job stability. Policy-makers should explore opportunities to make available high quality, low-cost child care to working women.

Study Details

This study was conducted by the Office of Population Studies at the University of San Carlos and the Carolina Population Center of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The co-principal investigators in the Philippines were Ms. Socorro Gultiano and Ms. Josephine Avila, while Dr. Linda Adair was the principal investigator in North Carolina. The research was supported by the Women's Studies Project at Family Health International (FHI) through a cooperative agreement funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The field work was supported by the Office of Women in Development of USAID. Dr. Eilene Bisgrove of FHI provided technical assistance and monitored this project.