title: The impact of child care on fertility in urban Thailand.
abstract: Women's labor force participation in Thailand, particularly in the modern sector, recently has increased in conjunction with rapid declines in fertility. This paper examines whether a relationship exists between child care considerations and fertility decision making among Bangkok women. Although the two-child family has become the norm in recent years, and although most respondents said that ideally they would like to have two children, a high proportion of women surveyed said they planned to only have one child. Women's work status and type of employment is found to strongly affect the likelihood of having a second birth: those who work at jobs that not only are low-paying but are located in a formal setting are least likely to have a second child. The type of child care for the first child also has an impact: those whose first child is in a less preferred situation are less likely to have a second. Variables measuring the need for and type of child care are found to have greater consequences for fertility than do usual measures of socioeconomic status.
authors.affiliation: Population Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Podhisita
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chamratrithirong
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Soonthorndhada
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002654:Child Care; D004651:Employment; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005193:Family Planning Services; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013785:Thailand; D014505:Urban Population; D014931:Women, Working; D017132:Workplace