Time Costs of Child Rearing in the Rural Philippines

Abstract

The economic theory of fertility holds that families weigh the costs as they consider additional children. Using 1975 data from a rural area in the Philippines a study was conducted to ascertain the time budgets of women in a high-fertility rural society as the size and composition of their families changed. The number of children seems to affect the mothers activities but it is the age composition of the family which is the major demographic determinant of the mothers use of time. Only during the 1st year of life does a child detract significantly from the mothers market production time. As the child gets older some time is released from child care and invested into market production. The cost of a birth to the mother in leisure time continues during the preschool years. The presence of older children reduces the time spent by the mother on child care. In fact as the family size increases child care costs on the mothers time decrease for each additional child. Mothers who were employed away from home were found to spend less time on child care than either mothers who did not work or mothers whose market activities were conducted at or near home. These findings show why fertility rates remain high in rural areas. The economic costs of child care are low especially when informal types of employment predominate. The generation of employment opportunities outside the home for women might be expected to result in lower fertility.

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