Role of Women Empowerment in Determining Fertility in Bangladesh

Abstract

Women‟s empowerment (WE) is crucial in shaping any country‟s social, economic, and demographic dynamics, particularly in developing countries such as Bangladesh. Researchers define and measure this multidimensional concept in various ways, making it challenging to evaluate using a single metric. Women‟s empowerment is a key factor influencing fertility rates, especially in countries such as Bangladesh, where gender norms often limit women‟s agency in reproductive decision-making. In Bangladesh, where traditional gender roles prevail, understanding how WE affect fertility is essential for promoting gender equality and managing population growth. This study aims to assess WE levels in various spheres, determine how these dimensions (household, economic, sociocultural, and psychological) affect fertility decisions, and investigate the influence of socio-demographic factors on fertility outcomes. A mixed-method approach was adopted to explore research questions. Quantitative data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 625 women of reproductive age groups from eight different areas of Dhaka city. Qualitative data were gathered through twenty-nine in-depth interviews (IDIs) and seven focus group discussions (FGDs) with 93 married women from urban areas. The quantitative data provided a broad understanding of WE and fertility patterns in the study area. In contrast, the qualitative data offered more profound insights into the participants‟ experiences and perceptions of the women involved. This study examines the extent of women‟s involvement in household decisions, their control over economic resources, freedom of movement, access to media and technology, views regarding gender-based violence, and psychological well-being, linking these factors to fertility preferences and behavior. Fertility outcomes were analyzed using the number of children born to the women in the study. The results show that 36.2% of ever-married women were under 30. Early marriage for women is a serious concern in Bangladesh. Still, 39.0% of respondents were married under 18 years of age. Approximately 25.0% of women give their first child under 20. v Almost 32.0% of women have completed secondary education. A countable percentage of the total respondents (15.7%) were illiterate. More than 32.0% of ever-married women have three or more children. However, 28.6% of women desired to have three or more children. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, this study created a valid and reliable four-dimensional framework for determining how empowered women are in Bangladesh. Initially, this study started with 46 indicators, and through the model fitting process, we narrowed it down to 32 indicators, which were grouped into eight factors, explaining 76.27% of the total variance. The CFA results show that our model fits well, and all factors are reliable and valid. The economic dimension has the highest value, indicating that economic empowerment is the most influential dimension in shaping the overall empowerment score. However, most participants (55.5%) in economic decision making showed moderate involvement, while 27.2% demonstrated low involvement. Another domain of economic empowerment, economic independence, is predominantly low, with 61.4% of participants indicating low autonomy. Socio-cultural empowerment can be classified into various domains, including access to media and technology, freedom of movement, and justification of violence. Access to media and technology and freedom of movement fell predominantly within the moderate category, with percentages of 52.2% and 67.0%, respectively. A higher percentage (81.4%) supported the notion of no violence. Self-esteem and self-efficacy under psychological empowerment fell under a moderate level. However, psychological empowerment exhibits the second most influential dimension in shaping the overall empowerment score. Qualitative findings of this study identified that economic empowerment enhances women's bargaining power and decision-making capabilities. Findings also unveiled that empowered women exhibit greater self-confidence and independence in expressing opinions and making decisions in both household and societal settings. Results of the bivariate analysis revealed a significant association between the number of children ever born (CEB) and WE and different explanatory variables such as the age of respondents, age at first birth, women‟s educational attainment, women‟s employment status, wealth index, the experience of domestic violence, husband‟s fertility preference, vi and contraceptive use. To investigate the role of WE on the total number of CEB, binary logistic regression models were fitted, and the odds of two or less vs. more than two were estimated. The current study employs four models to assess these relationships more rigorously. Model I showed that women with high empowerment in economic, household, socio-cultural, and psychological domains had significantly lower odds of having more than two children. When considering overall empowerment in Model II, women with high overall empowerment had 97.8% lower odds (OR = 0.022, CI: 0.010 0.045) of having more than two children. When socio-demographic variables are added to Model III, the odds ratios for economic empowerment (aOR=0.199, CI: 0.070–0.566) and household empowerment (aOR=0.092, CI: 0.017–0.474) become lower than Model I. In Model IV, overall empowerment levels often weaken after adding socio-demographic variables. This suggests that socio-demographic variables, such as age, education, and wealth, have an explanatory role in the relationship between empowerment and CEB. Some domain-specific aORs drop significantly, indicating that socio-demographics explain part of the variation seen in CEB. However, the binary logistic regression model results revealed that women with higher empowerment were more likely to have two or fewer children. As WE increase, the odds of having more than two children decrease. In addition to WE, socio-economic and demographic factors are crucial in shaping fertility outcomes. Age and education significantly influence fertility outcomes. Wealth index, type of family, sex preference, and contraceptive use also affect fertility. The qualitative findings identified significant sociocultural barriers, including family pressure, sex preference, and misconceptions about contraceptives that hinder women's empowerment toward fertility decisions. The prevalent preference for sons still impacts the number of CEB. The study found that an increase in WE was linked to a reduction in CEB. Other predictors of CEB were the respondent‟s age, age at birth, women's educational attainment, wealth index, and contraceptive use, which were all identified as factors associated with a lower number of children. Conversely, women who experienced domestic violence, whose husbands desired more children, and who had sex preferences were more likely to have more children. This study contributes to the growing literature vii on WE in developing countries. Policymakers should focus on the dimension-specific and overall WE level in reducing CEB. Furthermore, this study recommends enhancing WE and its role in the number of CEBs. The findings indicate that fostering empowerment within households is crucial for addressing challenges related to population growth and improving gender equality.