The Female Life Cycle, Fertility, and Women's Status in Indian Households.

This study examines changes in women's status in the household over the life course. Using nationally representative longitudinal data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS), the study focuses on two key life course transitions: entry into childbearing and the cessation of childbearing through the adoption of permanent contraceptive methods (female sterilization). Becoming a mother was associated with increased spousal communication and physical mobility but had no effect on household financial decision-making. The cessation of childbearing was associated with a decline in restrictions on physical mobility, expanded control over household resources, and increased spousal communication. The findings illustrate the need for demographers to consider life cycle dimensions of women's social status and complicate our understanding of the direction of causality between women's status in the household and fertility behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]