Autonomy and Egyptian Women: Findings from the 1988 Egypt Demographic and HealthSurvey

摘要

Data from the 1988 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey are used in this study toassess the level of autonomy experienced by married Egyptian women within their households. The study assesses customary autonomy (the extent to which a woman believes that the wife should have a decision-making role in matters related to children), noncustomary autonomy (the extent to which she believes that she should have a decision-making role in areas of family life not specifically concerned with children), and realized autonomy (the amount of control she actually has over her life, in terms both the weight given to her opinions within the household relative to those of her husband, and her degree of freedom of movement). Consideration is given to the relationship between these three indices and the use of contraception and the survival of young children (under 5 years), and to the effects on these indices of modernizing, economic, and cultural influences such as residential arrangements, urban living, employment, education, and number of children and preference for sons.