Socio-Economic Factors Affecting the Family Size

Abstract

This study was conducted to explore the socio-economic factor responsible for family size in the six most populous country of the world, Pakistan. Family size refers to the number of children acceptable in a particular society and aligned with societal norms. It can vary from society to society. Increase in population has always been a challenge in Pakistan. Moreover, literate people prefer small family size compared to the illiterate people. Major objective of this cross sectional quantitative study was to examine the socio-economic factors affecting the family size. Multistage sampling technique was used to draw out the sample of 384 workers from small industrial estate of Gujranwala and interview schedule was used to collect data. Statistical analysis of data was made by using SPSS. The study concluded that age of husband, education of couple, and their monthly household income were significantly associated with family size. The results also elaborated that family size was small in educated couples particularly among businessmen, government servants and large in illiterate poor families.