Women's work and fertility in a sub-Saharan urban setting: A social environment approach

Data from three separate studies conducted in Maputo, Mozambique, in 1993 a re used to analyse the relationship between the type of social environment in which women work and their fertility and contraceptive use. The analysis finds that women who work in more collectivized environments have fewer ch ildren and are more likely to use modern contraception than women who work in more individualized milieus and those who do not work outside the home. Most of these differences persist in multivariate tests. It is argued that collectivized work environments are most conducive to diffusion and legitim ation of reproductive innovations. In contrast, individualized environments tend to isolate women and therefore may retard their acceptance of innovat ive fertility-related behaviour.