Tasciotti, Luca ORCID: 0000-0003-2561-5530, Sulehria, Farooq and Wagner, Natascha (2022) Fertility, electricity and television: is there a link? Evidence from Pakistan, 1990–2018. Journal of Demographic Economics. pp. 1-28. ISSN 2054-0892 (Print), 2054-0906 (Online) (doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/dem.2022.6)

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Abstract

In 1960s Pakistan, every woman was giving birth to more than 6 children on average. In 2021, Pakistan still has the second-highest fertility rate in South Asia with every woman giving birth to 3.4 children on average. This paper uses four waves of Demographic and Health Survey data to empirically analyze trends in fertility in Pakistan between 1990 and 2018; accounting for wealth, education and locational differences, this paper looks at three additional pathways for reducing fertility: (i) electrification, (ii) access to TV and (iii) family planning commercials broadcast on television. Results show that electricity does not reduce fertility whereas access to television has a significant effect in reducing fertility rates. The content and evolution of Pakistani soap-operas are also discussed, and it is argued that the role models, the types of households and the messages conveyed by these soap-operas may represent strong pathways for the fertility decline.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	demographic health survey; fertility; Pakistan; pool regression; television
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman T Technology > T Technology (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Business Faculty of Business > Department of International Business & Economics
Last Modified:	08 Dec 2022 13:16
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/35702

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