Philippines
Effects of Childbearing on Filipino Women's Labor Force Participation and Earnings
Women in developing countries are faced with competing demands of reproductive and productive roles. The relationships between work and childbearing are complex. Working women may choose to limit childbearing so they can work and earn income, or childbearing may decrease women's opportunities for work, or affect type of work, place of work or hours. In contrast, increased economic demands of larger family size may push women into the labor force.
Study Design
In order to determine how childbearing affects the likelihood that a woman will participate in the labor force, and once in the labor force, the level of her total and hourly earnings, researchers from the University of North Carolina, Family Health International (FHI) and the University of San Carlos in Cebu, Philippines, analyzed data from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS), collected in 1983–86, and from the follow-up study during 1991–92.
The original survey recruited 3,327 pregnant women from 33 barangays in the Cebu City metropolitan area, who subsequently had a birth or pregnancy termination in a one-year period beginning in 1983. A follow-up survey was successfully conducted with 2,395 of the women in 1991.
Researchers identified characteristics of women likely to be working for income in 1983 and 1991, based on multivariate analysis using logistic regression. At baseline, when all participants were in the sixth or seventh month of pregnancy, 46.6 percent of women were currently working for pay or had worked for pay in the previous four months. In 1991, 73.9 percent of the sample were working for pay. Interviews with women working for pay in both 1983 and 1991 were the basis for this study.
Summary of Findings
Using prospective data on a large cohort of women from Cebu, Philippines, this study demonstrated a significant negative effect of childbearing on a woman's likelihood of participating in the labor force, and once in the labor force, on her change in earnings over an eight-year time period. The overall time trend in this sample, which began as a representative sample of childbearing women in urban and rural communities of Cebu, is toward increased labor force participation, increased work hours and increased earnings. Results of the analyses confirm the notion of a "child tax;" that is, a cost associated with each additional birth, such that childbearing acts as a barrier to improvements in earnings.
Specific Findings
This paper uses as a reference group, those women who were not working at either time (1983-86 or 1991-92).
- Of women working in 1983, 31.6 percent had never worked, and 49.8 percent worked before marriage, but not afterward. Women worked an average of 41.6 hours per week. Thirty-one percent worked in the formal wage sector, 21 percent in the piece-work sector, and 42 percent were self-employed. Those working for pay were more likely to have at least a high school education, to be from households with lower income (exclusive of mothers' earning), to have worked before marriage, and to be higher parity. They were less likely to have a child under age two.
- Labor force participation increased dramatically in 1991, compared with 1983. The percentage of women doing piece work declined to 15 percent, while the percentage of self-employed women rose to 44 percent. Women working for pay were significantly older than non-working women, were more likely to have worked before marriage, came from lower-income households, and were less likely to have a child under age two.
- Controlling for inflation, mean change in earnings was 47 pesos per week, representing a 49 percent increase in women's earnings from 1983 to 1991. The change in income, in part, reflects an increase in number of hours worked per week from 41.6 in 1983 to 46.1 in 1991.
- For every additional hour worked, women earned 1.2 pesos per week more. Piece workers had the lowest mean gains, while wage workers had the highest gains.
- Children born between 1983 and 1991 significantly decreased total and hourly earnings. Having one additional child decreased total weekly earnings by 11 pesos per week, while having four or more children decreased weekly earnings by 56 pesos per week. The total number of children born during the study interval had a greater effect that the age of youngest child.
- The effect of childbearing on earnings operated partly through hours worked, with each additional child associated with a decline in hours. However, a significant effect of childbearing remained after controlling for hours, suggesting that women shift to lower paying jobs that are more compatible with childbearing.
- The strongest effect on change in earnings was seen with job stability; those women who remained in the wage sector earned more per week and per hour than did women who did piece work or who changed sector of employment.
Study Details
This summary is based on the paper: Adair LS, Guilkey D, Bisgrove EZ, Gultiano C. Effects of Childbearing on Filipino Women's Labor Force Participation and Earnings. Presented at the Population Association of America, May 1996, New Orleans. This paper was later revised and submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. The work was funded by the Women's Studies Project at Family Health International through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development.
