Fertility values of children and parents in peninsular Malaysia : a cross-cultural study of Malays, Chinese, and Indians

Abstract

This study focuses on the development of population-related values and attitudes and the perceptions of the value and cost of children among Malaysians. The research covers four states in Peninsular Malaysia and includes Malays, Chinese, and Indians at different stages of the life cycle in rural and urban areas. Apart from an original study of population socialization, this research provides for the first time data on childbearing motivations in Malaysia within the conceptual framework of the cross-national Value of Children Project. The dependent variables include population values, attitudes, and behaviours, such as family size and sex preferences, family formation norms, population awareness and concern, contraceptive behaviour, and the perceptions of the value and cost of children. The children part of the study (N=2014) is based mainly on a cross-section design involving self-administered questionnaire procedure as well as quasi-experimenta1 methods using projective and story-conplet ion techniques. The collection of data among 541 parents is by interviews. A mult i-method measurement approach is adopted. Bivariate and miltivariate analyses are performed using ethnicity, rural-urban residence, sex, age, family income, education, and psychological variables such as individual modernity, sex role standard, familism, conjugal decision-making, the structure and relationship of the family of origin as independent variables. A number of major differentials in fertility values and behaviours are found especially along ethnic, age, and rural-urban lines. Malay parents and children appear generally to be mare pronatalist than Chinese and Indians on various measures of fertility preferences and norms. Indications of a transition in the value of children and enational nucleation of the family are visible among Chinese children and the 19 year-old Sixth Formers, and to a lesser degree among girls, urban children, and Chinese parents. Chinese parents and children display the highest knowledge of and most favourable attitudes towards family planning. A modern value orientation, less stereotyped sex role standard, and weaker familistic outlook are related to lower fertility preferences. Of the large number of family of origin variables considered, the size of parental heme shows a clear and consistent effect on the desired family size of subsequent generation. About 10% of the parents and children received a retest one month after the first data-collection. Test-retest reliability for all the measures is generally high although variation in temporal stability is found between questions dealing with different content areas. The policy implications of some research findings are discussed and special attention is drawn to the importance of re-examining the effectiveness of -the population education in Malaysian schools. The need for a common research platform and the comparative analysis of data on population socialization is emphasized. Show more