WOMENS SCHOOLING AND CHILD-CARE IN THE DEMOGRAPHIC-TRANSITION - A MEXICAN CASE-STUDY

The question of how female school attendance influences fertility and child survival was studied by the authors at the community level, in one urban and one rural setting in central Mexico. Samples of mothers of young children in both communities were interviewed, and a subsample in the city was observed at home with their infants. Maternal schooling was found to be a predictor of reductions in fertility and the risks to child survival in both settings, with household socioeconomic factors controlled. Husband's school attainment was also a predictor of fertility, but was not associated with health care variables, reflecting a cultural division of labor in the family. Mothers with more schooling use maternal and child health and family planning services more frequently and are differentiated from those with less schooling by attitude, belief, and behavior variables, indicating psychosocial pathways between schooling and population change.