000160954 001__ 160954
000160954 005__ 20251017144652.0
000160954 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1186/s12905-025-03748-6
000160954 0248_ $$2sideral$$a144041
000160954 037__ $$aART-2025-144041
000160954 041__ $$aeng
000160954 100__ $$aTaqwim, Sitta Fiakhsani
000160954 245__ $$aThe role of women’s empowerment in fertility preferences and outcomes: analysis of the 2017 Indonesia demographic and health survey
000160954 260__ $$c2025
000160954 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted
000160954 5203_ $$aBackground
With a population of 275 million, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country and has made considerable efforts to reduce its Total Fertility Rate from 5.6 in 1971 to a target of 2.1 by 2024. Women’s empowerment has been identified as a critical factor influencing fertility dynamics, gender equality, reproductive autonomy, and broader socioeconomic development. This study examines the association between four dimensions of women’s empowerment and three fertility-related outcomes among married women aged 22 years and older in Indonesia.
Methods
We used cross-sectional data from 34,017 married women participating in the 2017 Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey (IDHS). An outcome-wide analytical approach was adopted to explore three outcomes: total number of children ever born, ideal number of children, and fertility preference alignment, i.e. whether actual fertility matched stated preferences. Four empowerment domains were assessed: household decision-making, attitudes toward wife beating, attitudes toward refusing sex, and labour force participation. Stepwise multivariate Poisson regression modelling was applied, adjusting for key demographic and socioeconomic covariates.
Results
Our study found that the association between each type of women’s empowerment and fertility-related outcomes varied, reinforcing the notion that empowerment does not uniformly affect reproductive behaviour. Among the four empowerment indicators, rejecting all justifications for wife beating emerged as the most consistent and significant predictor across all fertility outcomes. It was association with fewer children ever born (β = 0.03), a lower ideal number of children (β = 0.04), and a higher likelihood of meeting fertility preferences (PR = 1.02). Attitudes toward refusing sex were also significantly associated with fewer children (β = 0.02) and lower fertility ideals (β = 0.07). However, participation in decision-making and labour force participation showed mixed or non-significant associations, indicating that different empowerment dimensions may influence reproductive behaviour in diverse ways.
Conclusions
Women’s empowerment - particularly in the domains of gender-based violence and sexual autonomy - is closely linked to fertility preferences and behaviours. The findings underscore that empowerment is a multidimensional construct, with varying influences across its domains. Strengthening women’s autonomy and addressing gender-based violence are essential steps toward enhancing reproductive rights and achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 in Indonesia. Gender-sensitive data systems and interventions tailored to different aspects of empowerment are urgently needed.
000160954 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess$$aby$$uhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es
000160954 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
000160954 700__ $$aVaezghasemi, Masoud
000160954 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0002-5064-3763$$aCastel-Feced, Sara$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza
000160954 700__ $$aDewi, Fatwa Sari Tetra
000160954 700__ $$aSchröders, Julia
000160954 7102_ $$12007$$2265$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Métodos Estadísticos$$cÁrea Estadís. Investig. Opera.
000160954 773__ $$g25, 211 (2025), 15$$pBMC Women's Health$$tBMC Women's Health$$x1472-6874
000160954 8564_ $$s1621008$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/160954/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada
000160954 8564_ $$s2056358$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/160954/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada
000160954 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:160954$$particulos$$pdriver
000160954 951__ $$a2025-10-17-14:36:55
000160954 980__ $$aARTICLE