Abstract
Using World-System and Gender and Development theories to examine women’s status and fertility in the high fertility countries, I argue that fertility behavior is strongly related to an unequal power relationship between husbands and wives, which occurs because of a dependent economy. Dependent economy creates economic inequality and limits prospects for women’s upward mobility, which may be an important factor for maintaining high fertility. This research examines empirical data from 82 countries—where total fertility rate is higher than 2.1 per woman in a given nation. The study includes both semi-periphery and periphery regions with planned and market-oriented economies in order to investigate the influence of investment and dependent development on women’s status and fertility.
