CMI WORKING PAPER
FEMALE AUTONOMY AND FERTILITY IN NEPAL
WP 2010: 1
Husbands’ work is not significant. The only exception is husbands without work, but the group is too small for the results to be reliable.41 Caste/Ethnicity The reference group is the Terai ethnic group, i.e. ethnic groups with origins in the Terai region. This group is normally below the Terai middle caste group, but above the Hill Dalits in the caste hierarchy. As observed, the only significant variable in Model 1 is the Muslims, while all groups except Brahmin/Chetri and Terai Dalit are significant in Model 3. The first is in accordance with my expectations: all other things being equal, Muslims have more children than other ethnic groups. The Wald tests also show significant differences between Muslims and all other groups. In my own interviews, many of my respondents pointed to the Muslims as a group that they would expect to have “more children than themselves”. Unfortunately, I was not able to interview any Muslims myself, hence I did not get any personal experience regarding their own reflections about what seems to be a clear pattern, that Muslims in Nepal have significantly more children than other Nepalese. Muslims have over half a child more than the reference group in all models in Table 4. Regarding the other significant caste dummies, the interpretation is somewhat challenging. Difference in living standard and education is accounted for, so differences between castes can best be explained by different norms across ethnic groups. Two of the significant groups, Terai Middle and Hill Ethnic, are regarded by many as higher in the system than the reference group, while Dalits (often referred to as “untouchables”) are below the ethnic groups; but they have the same sign and the coefficients have almost similar size (TM=0.21, HE=0.2 and HD=0.24) compared to the reference group. In other words, to say that “lower castes have more children” would not be correct, controlled for other variables. Removing the wealth indicator does not change the results. To interpret the results (apart from the Muslims), the groups of ethnicity should be split to find out more accurately which groups are the reason for the results. The focus should perhaps be moved towards the reference group. The results show that the Terai Ethnic groups have fewer children than most other groups. The Terai Ethnic groups consist of over 85 percent Tharu42 people. The result is somewhat surprising, as my own impression was that Tharus were regarded as one of the groups that actually had more children than others. Why these groups have fewer children than other groups is difficult to say. Perhaps special programs have been implemented that are aimed at particular ethnic groups, for instance the Tharus. The Number of Siblings The dummy for being from a large family is positive and significant at the 5 percent level. This being significant indicates that coming from a large family gives preferences towards having a large family oneself. It is not a very large effect, but it indicates that norms and traditions affect choices, which is hardly a controversial statement. Electricity Electricity is also significantly negative. Electricity can work through multiple mechanisms. Firstly, it can be an indicator of economic status that is not taken into account through the wealth variables. As well, electricity can say something about the general development level in the community and it
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Fewer than one percent of the respondents have husbands without work. One of the largest ethnic minorities in Nepal.
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