The Demographic and Health Surveys tDHS) 1 ~, a 13 }car pio.leUt to ,t~,M',/ g¢~\eiu/llenl alld plp,'atc a,gcncw ~, m 

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m Calverton, Maryland. 

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among pollcymakers, (2) expand Ihe inlernatmnal populatmn and heahh datab;.e,c ! ~ ) advance survey nlcth(~d~h)g},, and 

14 ) develop in participating countries lhe skills and resources nc~.essary I(~ conducl high quality dcn/t Jg/aphlc ,rod hcahJl 

,;urveys 

Fq)l information about the DeulographiL and Health Stu re),,, plOgldUt, Wllte b+ ])H~, lk+1aLlt) Intcrnat]t,ndl Im i I ,7~q 

Belt~,~,llle Drive, Calvertou, M]) 2()705- :;119. lJ S A (Iclepht,nc ";01 ",72 ()2fill I'z~'~ 301 ~72 II'+)'+)')+ 
AUTONOMY AND EGYPTIAN WOMEN: 

FINDINGS FROM THE 1988 EGYPT 

DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH SURVEY 

Sunita Kishor 

Macro International Inc. 

Calverton, Maryland 

January 1995 
The recommended citation for this publication is: 

Kishor, Sunita. 1995. Autonomy and Egyptian Women: 

Findings from the 1988 Egypt Demographic and Health 

Survey. Occasional Papers No. 2. Calverton, Maryland: 

Macro International Inc. 
Contents 

Tables ............................................................................. v 

Figures ........................................................................... vii 

Acknowledgments ................................................................... ix 

Executive Summary .................................................................. xi 

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................... I 

CHAPTER 2 DEFINING ALTERNATIVE MEASURES OF AUTONOMY ................... 3 

CHAPTER 3 FEMALE AUTONOMY AND DEMOGRAPHIC BEHAVIOR .................. 7 

3.1 Autonomy Indices and the Use of Contraception ........................ 8 

3.2 Autonomy Indices and Numbers of Children Dead by Age 5 ............. 10 

CHAPTER 4 EXPLAINING FEMALE AUTONOMY: DEVELOPING HYPOTHESES ........ 15 

4.1 The Modernization Approach to the Autonomy of Women ............... 15 

4.2 Culture-dependent Influences on Female Autonomy .................... 17 

CHAPTER 5 EXPLAINING FEMALE AUTONOMY: THE CASE OF EGYPT ............... 21 

5.1 Description of Variables .......................................... 21 

5.2 Methods ...................................................... 24 

5.3 Results ........................................................ 25 

CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS ...................................................... 43 

REFERENCES .................................................................... 47 

APPENDIX 1 CORRELATION COEFFICIENTS OF VARIABLES INCLUDED 

IN THE ORDERED LOGIT REGRESSION MODELS ........................ 53 

APPENDIX 2 NECESSARY ORDERED LOGIT FORMULAE ............................ 55 

iii 

Tables 

Table 2.1 

Table 3.1 

Table 3.2 

Table 3.3 

Table 5.1 

Table 5.2 

Table 5.3 

Table 5.4 

Appendix 1 

Questions used and weights given to each possible response when 

constructing the autonomy indices ............................................. 4 

Mean values of customary autonomy, noncustomary autonomy, and realized 

autonomy by contraceptive method and number of children ......................... 9 

Mean levels of the indices of customary, noncustomary, and realized 

autonomy by number of children dead and number of children ever born 

who are not currently between the ages of 0 and 5 ............................... I I 

Percent of women who have the highest scores on customary autonomy, 

noncustomary autonomy, and realized autonomy by the number of children 

dead, at each net parity level ................................................ 13 

Means and standard deviations for all variables included m the analysis 

of women's autonomy in Egypt .............................................. 22 

Percent change in probability calculated from ordered Iogit regression 

estimates for alternative models of the index of customary autonomy ................ 26 

Percent change in probability calculated from ordered logit regression 

estimates of alternative models of the index of noncustomary autonomy .............. 31 

Percent change in probability calculated from ordered Iogit regression 

estimates of alternative models of the index of realized autonomy .................. 35 

Correlation coefficients of variables included in the Ordered Logit Regression 

models of customary autonomy, noncustomary autonomy, and realized autonomy ...... 53 

Figure 2.1 

Figure 3.1 

Figures 

Percent distribution of all currently married women by their level of 

autonomy ................................................................ 5 

Percent of women using modem contraception at each value of the three 

autonomy indices ......................................................... lO 

vii 

Acknowledgments 

This research was carried out primarily with funds provided to the Demographic and Health Surveys 

project by the Office of Women in Development (WID) of the United States Agency for International 

Development. I am grateful to Debra Schumann for her interest in the research and her helpful comments. 

The research also benefitted substantially from suggestions made by Ann Blanc, Ann Way, Anastasia Gage, 

and Pav Govindasamy. Aylene Kovensky patiently edited the work and Betty Thomas provided secretarial 

support. 

ix 

Executive Summary 

Autonomy and Egyptian Women 

In this study, data from the 1988 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS-1988) are used to 

explore the multidimensionality of Egyptian women's autonomy. Three indices--the customary autonomy 

index, the noncustomary autonomy index, and the realized autonomy index---each measuring a different 

dimension of autonomy, are defined. The customary autonomy index measures the extent to which a woman 

believes that the wife should have a decision-making role in matters related to children, and the noncustomary 

autonomy index measures the extent to which she believes that the wife should have a decision-making role 

in areas of family life not specifically concerned with children. The realized autonomy index, on the other 

hand, measures the amount of control a woman actually has over her life, in terms both of the weight given 

to her opinions within the household relative to those of her husband and her degree of freedom of movement. 

These three indices of autonomy have been used to perform two separate analyses. The first examines 

whether the different dimensions of women's autonomy as measured by the three indices are equally 

associated with two demographic outcomes, i.e., the use of contraception by women and the survival of 

children up to the age of five. The second identifies factors that explain the cross-sectional variation in each 

separate index of autonomy. The latter analysis is done by using ordered Iogit estimation techniques and 

regressing each index of autonomy on several modernization, economic and cultural factors as well as on the 

other two dimensions of autonomy. 

In keeping with the multidimensionality of women's autonomy, only moderate amounts of correlation 

between the three indices of autonomy have been found. Also, although the customary autonomy of Egyptian 

women appears to be high, their noncustomary autonomy and realized autonomy are not. Specifically, over 

50% of Egyptian women had the highest possible score on the customary autonomy index, while only 12% 

had the highest possible score on the noncustomary autonomy index, and 17% had the highest score on the 

realized autonomy index. 

High scores on all three indices are found to be associated with a higher use of modern contraceptives 

and a lower probability of having any children die before age five at each parity. This suggests that even in 

patriarchal societies such as Egypt, where autonomy may not be a culturally coveted female trait, higher 

female autonomy is positively associated with socially desirable demographic outcomes. Notably, customary 

autonomy, the one dimension of autonomy that typically is high among Egyptian women, has the weakest 

association with the use of modem contraceptives and zero infant deaths at each parity, and noncustomary 

autonomy, the dimension on which high scores are rare among Egyptian women, has the most positive and 

consistent association with these desired demographic outcomes. 

Further, the different dimensions of autonomy are not affected in the same way by the same 

explanatory factors. Nevertheless, several modernization and economic variables have a positive and 

significant association with all three indices, although the strength of the association usually is the least for 

the customary autonomy index. On average, the greater the wealth of a household, the greater the exposure 

of the woman to the outside world through television viewing, and the more educated the woman and her 

husband, the greater is her probability of scoring high on all three indices. Of these variables, the impact of 

the husband's education is the greatest on women's scores on the realized autonomy index, and that of hours 

spent viewing television and women" s own education is greatest on the uoncustomary autonomy index. There 

is little difference in the impact of socio-economic status on the three indices. These results suggest that 

modernization efforts that affect women directly, for example, by increasing their level of education, affect 

women's autonomy most by altering their views about the role of wives in decision-making; modernization 

xi 
efforts that affect women indirectly, for example, by raising the level of education of husbands, affect most 

their realized level of autonomy. 

Urban living, especially current residence in urban areas, is found to be conducive to higher scores 

on noncustomary autonomy. However, urban living does not necessarily imply higher levels of customary 

and realized autonomy. Specifically, women living in the Urban Governorates, despite higher levels of 

noncustomary autonomy, have a much lower level of realized autonomy than women from all other areas 

with the exception of rural Upper Egypt. On the other hand, women living in both rural and urban Upper 

Egypt have a higher probability of scoring low on customary autonomy than women in other parts of Egypt. 

This suggests that perhaps the normative level of autonomy in decision-making with regard to children is 

lower in Upper Egypt than in other parts of the country. 

Exposure to urban living before the age of twelve positively affects women's scores on the two 

indices measuring women's views on decision-making autonomy, while leaving their scores on realized 

autonomy unaffected. On the one hand, this result emphasizes the innovative nature of high scores on 

noncustomary autonomy. On the other, it suggests that the norm of high levels of customary autonomy is 

reinforced by early socialization in urban, rather than rural, living. Women who have spent most of their lives 

in the place of interview, are found to have significantly lower levels only of realized autonomy. Since 

neither customary nor noncustomary autonomy is affected by recent migration, the positive association of 

realized autonomy with migration is more likely to be due to the greater need for freedom of movement 

among migrant women than to the greater exposure of migrants to new ways of doing things. 

The impact of women's employment on autonomy also differs for each dimension of autonomy. 

Only realized autonomy is higher among women who work, irrespective of whether or not they control their 

earnings or earn cash for their work. In contrast, whether women who work differ significantly in terms of 

their customary and noncustomary autonomy from those who do not work depends on whether the work Js 

for earnings or not and the degree of control over earnings. In comparison with women who do not work at 

all, noncustomary autonomy is higher only among women who work and give most of their earnings to their 

families, and customary autonomy is higher only among women who work and keep most of their earnings 

for themselves. Women who are employed without cash earnings have a lower level of both customary and 

noncustomary autonomy than women who do not work at all. 

Together these results Jmply that autonomy as measured by perceptions about women's decisionmaking roles is not affected by employment per se, but by access to, and control over, earnings derived from 

employment. Working without earnings consistently undermines women's perceptions about the control 

women should have over decision-making in both traditional and nontraditional realms. However, if women 

earn, more control over earnings does not necessarily imply that women will favor greater female input an 

decision-making in the nontraditional realm. Rather, the results suggest that more control over earnings 

translates into an increase in the likelihood that women will want to control decisions in their traditional areas 

of influence. On the other hand, the higher realized autonomy of women who are employed, irrespective of 

earnings and earnings control, may be due to their greater necessity for freedom of movement, a need that 

is unlikely to be mediated by earnings. 

The study finds that few cultural variables affect any of the aspects of autonomy directly. Realized 

autonomy alone is lower among women who are Muslim, who live in large, perhaps non-nuclear households, 

and who have been married more than once. The lower realized autonomy of remarried women warns us 

against transplanting cultural conceptions acquired in one cultural setting to another. Th~s warning Js also 

relevant for assumptions about the impact of age at marriage on autonomy. The higher the age at first 

marriage the lower (not higher, as should be expected) the probability of high scores on noncustomary 

autonomy. 

xii 
The co-residence of husband's relatives is directly associated with lower levels of noncustomary 

autonomy but not with women's realized autonomy levels. Taken together, these results suggest that coresidence of in-laws may not cause women' s autonomy to be lower, but that women who co-reside with their 

husband's relatives may be more likely to have traditional views about women's roles. 

Given the patriarchal basis of the Egyptian family, the number of children, especially sons, was 

expected to enhance women's autonomy. Instead, the higher the number of sons and daughters a woman has, 

the higher the probability, on average, of her scoring low, especially on customary autonomy. This finding 

corroborates the positive relationship of high fertility with low women's status, and suggests that higher 

fertility lowers women's autonomy even in their traditional areas of influence. 

Finally, controlling for modernization, economic, and cultural factors, all aspects of autonomy are 

found to be positively and significantly related to one another. Importantly, however, changes in 

noncustomary autonomy affect the other two aspects of autonomy the most. Thus, while the three dimensions 

of autonomy tend to go together, on average, women who score high on the noncustomary autonomy index 

are more likely to also score high on the other two dimensions of autonomy, than women who score high on 

either customary autonomy or realized autonomy. 

The following findings: 

noncustomary autonomy is the one aspect of autonomy that is most consistently related to socially 

desired demographic outcomes, 

when scores on the noncustomary autonomy index are high, scores on other dimensions of autonomy 

are also most likely to be high, and 

noncustomary autonomy, more than any other aspect of autonomy, is most consistently related to 

modernization influences 

together yield an important policy conclusion. They suggest that even without making difficult and often 

culturally less desirable changes to the kinship structure, all dimensions of women's autonomy can be 

enhanced by manipulating the modemization variables, variables that are, happily, most amenable to policy 

manipulation. 

xiii 

Chapter 1 

Introduction 

The centrality of both women and men in the traditional Islamic family unit derives from the essentlal 

complementarity of their customary roles and responsibilities (Rugh, 1984). Men are seen as the protectors 

of the family and must provide for its maintenance. Women, on the other hand, are absolved of the burden 

of providing for their own and their family' s economic needs since they bear the responsibility of procreation 

and rearing of a generation (Hashemi, 1981; Rugh, 1984; Moghadam, 1992). 

Although this complementary gender-based division of responsibilities is likely to have the purported 

effect of sheltering women, it undoubtedly also mediates women's access to the outside world, and 

legitimizes a decision-making process that places the right to make key decisions affecting women's lives 

in the hands of male kin. Socialization in this tradition is unlikely to encourage in women a desire to take 

direct control of their own lives and resources without the intervention of male kin. A desire for autonomy, 

especially outside the domestic realm, is more likely to be seen as a threat to the assigned mutuality of male 

and female roles. 

Despite the apparent rigidity of traditional roles, however, there are several reasons to expect a large 

amount of variation in female autonomy even within Islamic society. Female autonomy is not unidimensional 

(Mason, 1987), and even the traditional role assignment, which gives women little control over most spheres, 

is compatible with at least some female autonomy and control within the domestic sphere. Further, 

differences between women in socioeconomic status, education levels, and exposure to nontradmonal 

thinking are also likely to translate into differences in female autonomy in both the domestic and the 

nondomestic sphere (Rugh, 1984). In addition, the imperatives of changing economic and social conditions, 

often outside the control of individual family units, may require women to take on responsibilities outside 

their traditional realm. These factors suggest that there should be variation in the degree of autonomy desired 

and exercised even within the system of complementary traditional roles. 

Additionally, there are also likely to be situations, such as when women are abandoned or widowed, 

wherein the mutual system of obligations that is the foundation of the traditional complementarity of gender 

roles is violated, forcing women to fend for themselves and their children. Thus, even within a social system 

in which female autonomy may not be a culturally coveted virtue, we are likely to find a large amount of 

variation in autonomy, both because overall autonomy levels will vary across women according to individual 

circumstance and opportunity, and because autonomy is multidimensional so that women could exercise 

autonomy in some spheres and not in others. 

This study explores the multidimensionality of female autonomy in Egypt by defining three different 

measures of autonomy based on questions asked in the 1988 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey. Using 

empirical tools of analysis, the extent of variation in each dimension is modelled and evaluated in terms of 

several modernization, economic, and cultural factors. The study also examines whether each of the different 

dimensions of autonomy is associated with two demographic outcomes in Egypt, contraceptive use and child 

survival. Whereas a higher rate of child survival is widely accepted as a socially desirable demographic 

outcome, raising the rate of contraceptive prevalence is a stated objective of Egypt's population strategy 

(National Population Council, 1991). A positive association of female autonomy with these demographic 

outcomes even within a setting in which such autonomy may not be considered culturally desirable, will 

suggest that female autonomy can at least be recommended on desired demographic grounds. 
To this end, we define in Chapter 2 the three different measures of autonomy. Two of these measures 

index the degree to which women believe that they should have a decision-making role within the domestic 

and the nondomestic sphere; the third measure indexes women's degree of realized autonomy. In Chapter 

3 we examine the association of all three dimensions of autonomy with two demographic outcomes, 

contraceptive use and child survival. The objectives are to determine whether higher levels of autonomy are 

associated with desired demographic behavior and whether this association varies by the dimension of 

autonomy being measured. The rest of the study is devoted to examining the factors that help explain 

variation in the different dimensions of autonomy measured by the three autonomy indices. Thus, in Chapter 

4, we use existing literature to develop theoretical hypotheses about the factors that should explain the 

variation in autonomy levels in Egypt. Variables and methods used to test these hypotheses and results of 

the multivariate analyses of the three different dimensions of autonomy are discussed in Chapter 5. Finally, 

in Chapter 6, we summarize the results and evaluate their implications. 

Egypt provides an ideal setting to study the interrelationships between tradition, development, 

demographic behavior and female autonomy. Egypt is an Islamic society with relatively rigid norms about 

gender roles (Rugh, 1984) combined with relanvely high levels of fertility, infant mortality and adult 

illiteracy. Simultaneously, it is a country with a medium level of economic development and urbanization. 

In 1988, Egypt had a per capita income of U.S.$660 and was ranked among the middle income economies 

of the world (World Bank, 1991 ). Half of its 50.2 million population lived in urban areas. However, the total 

fertility rate was 4.5, the infant mortality rate was 88 per 1000 live births, only 38% of married women of 

child-bearing age were using contraception, and about two thirds of adult women were illiterate. 
Chapter 2 

Defining Alternative Measures of Autonomy 

The data used in this study are from the standard recede file of the Egypt Demographic and Health 

Survey (EDHS) conducted in late 1988.~ This survey sampled a total of 8911 ever-married women in Egypt 

of whom 8219 were currently married. Earlier research suggested the usefulness of these data for examining 

women's status issues (Govindasamy and Malhotra, 1994). 

The EDHS included a range of questions regarding women's perceptions of who should have and 

who does have decision-making powers within the family, as well as questions on the freedom of women to 

go outside the home. These questions are combined into three different indices of autonomy and are listed 

in Table 2.1. The questions on the autonomy of women were asked only of currently married women; 

therefore the analysis is restricted to this subsample. 

The questions on who should have decision-making powers within the family were grouped 

according to whether they concerned the procreation and rearing of children or whether they addressed other 

areas of family life not specifically concerned with children. Since the care of children, and to a lesser extent 

the decisions surrounding contraception and procreation, fall within the domestic realm over which women 

traditionally have had some control, the former group of questions were combined to form the index of 

customary autonomy. The questions not specifically concerned with family planning or children were 

combined to form the index of noncustomary autonomy. The latter index measures the extent to which 

women believe that women should have decision-making powers in general, as well as in areas such as 

household finances, which are outside their traditional realm of influence. The expectation is that more 

women are likely to score high on the customary autonomy index, which measures women's views on 

women's control over decision-making in their traditional domestic domain, than on the noncustomary 

autonomy index, which measures women's belief that women should have decision-making powers in areas 

not traditionally within their domain of influence. 

The questions on who is perceived by the respondent to actually have decision-making power within 

the family and who decides on whether the respondent is allowed freedom of movement outside the home 

were combined to form the index of realized autonomy. This index reflects the actual amount of autonomy 

women have rather than the amount they believe women should have. 

Along with the list of questions used to construct the indices, Table 2.1 provides the weight given 

to each response, which, depending on the response, is either I or 0. The index value for every woman is the 

sum of the weights of her responses. The minimum value for all three indices is 0. The maximum is 4 for 

the indices of customary autonomy and realized autonomy (since they are based on four questions each) and 

5 for the noncustomary autonomy index (which is based on 5 questions). 

The responses "wife" and "both" to all four questions used to construct the customary autonomy 

index and to the first three questions used to construct the noneustomary autonomy index are both assigned 

a weight of 1. This assignment of weights does not distinguish between women who believe that wives 

~The Egypt Demographic and Health Survey was a collaborative effort of the Egypt National Population Council 

(Cairo, Egypt) and the Institute for Resource Development/Macro Systems Inc. (IRD). This survey was funded by 

the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) (Conlract No. DPE-3023-C-00-4083-00) and the 

Government of Egypt. 

3 
Table 2.1 Questions used and weights given to each possible response when constructing the autonomy radices 

Weight given 

Questions Possible to each 

responses response 

Customary Autonomy Index Index mecLsuring the extent to which women 

believe that they should have the last word in famdy planmng, m the decision to 

have another child, and m their children's education and marnage, 

• Who should have the last word on the following -- the husband, the wife, both. 

or sonreone e]se~ 

Hawng another chdd 

- Chddren's education 

- Chddren's marriage plans 

Use of famdy planning methods 

Noncustomary Autonomy Index Index measuring the extent to which women 

beheve that women should have deciston-makmg powers in general and in areas 

outside ~helr traditmnal roles 

• Who should have the last word on the following - the husband, the wife, both. 

or someone else? 

Visits to fuends or relatives 

- Household budget 

Lending or borrowing 

• Now I would hke to talk 1o you about a different topm In general if a wife 

dNagrees with her husband should she keep quiet or speak up? 

• Do you think a wife respects a husband more ff he resists she accepts his 

opinion m everything or If he hstens to and accepts her opinions ~ 

Realized Autonomy Index. Index measuring the extent to which women percewe 

that they have decision-making powers and thor freedom of movement. 

• In your home, does your point of wew carry the same weight as your 

busband's, less weight than h~s pomt of view, or ~sn't It taken into account at 

011'? 

• Do you go out w~th your husband to purchase major household items/clothing? 

• Does your husband allow you to go out alone or with your chddren to buy 

household items '~ 

• Does your husband allowyou to go out alone or with your chddren to wsxt 

relallves or friends? 

Husband (I 

Wife 1 

Both 1 

Other 0 

Same ~ above Same as above 

Same as above Same Lt5 ahove 

Same as above Same as above 

Same as above 

Same as above 

Same as above 

Keep qmel 

Speak up 

Not sure/Don't know 

lnmsts on his opmmn 

Listens and accepts her opinion 

Not sure/Don't know 

Same weight as husband 

Less weight than husband 

Not taken mto account at all 

Other 

Y~s 

No 

Ye~, alone 

Yes with chddren 

Not allowed 

Other 

Yes alone 

Yes with chddren 

Not allowed 

Other 

Same a~ above 

Same as abov~ 

Same R~ ahtlv~ ~ 

4 
should have sole decision-making powers and women who believe that wives should share such powers 

equally with their husbands. The rationale for taking this approach rather than one that weights only the 

response "wife" as 1 is two-fold: a) in a strongly patriarchal society such as Egypt, the belief that women 

should have decision-making powers at least equal to their husbands, while being clearly less innovative than 

a belief that women should have sole power is, nonetheless, a significantly strong indication of women's 

believing that they should control important aspects of their lives; and b) since the questions refer to decisions 

about the welfare of the family and not about the welfare of the woman alone, an answer that does not give 

sole power to either husband or wife, but gives it jointly to both seems a reasonable expression of autonomy 

within a conjugal and familial context. For the construction of the realized autonomy index, a women is 

considered to have autonomy only if she is allowed to go out alone and if her opinion carries as much weight 

as her husband's (i.e., the maximum weight allowed by the question). 

The different aspects of the autonomy of women as measured by the three indices are only 

moderately correlated. The highest correlation, 0.54, is between the indices of noncustomary autonomy and 

customary autonomy. The correlation of the indices of noncustomary autonomy and customary autonomy 

with the index of realized autonomy is lower, at 0.46 and 0.34, respectively. The moderate correlations 

among the three indices support the assumption that the three indices are tapping distinct dimensions of the 

autonomy of Egyptian women. 

Figure 2.1 shows how women are distributed across the values of each of the three radices. As 

expected, more women are likely to believe that women should have at least an equal say in matters related 

to children than in matters not related to children. In fact, over 50% of the women score the maximum value 

on the index of customary autonomy as compared to only 12% on the index of noncustomary autonomy. 

Figure 2.1 

Percent distribution of all currently married women 

Percent of women 

60 

50 

40 

30 

20 

10 

0 

by their level of autonomy 

54 

F-- 

19 

h 1 

Customary 

28 27 

21 20 ~ 

Noncustomary ealized 

Autonomy Index 

~]4 []3r-]2 ~7J111°~lndex values 

Scale: Customary autonomy: 0-4; Noncustomary autonomy:0-5;Realized autonomy:0-4 

5 
However, it is notable that almost one fifth of women believe that women should not have any control in 

decision-making even with regard to the procreation and lives of children. A similar proportion of women 

do not believe that women should have control in areas not concerned with children. The distribution of 

women across the values of the index of realized autonomy approximates a normal curve; most women are 

likely to have a medium level of autonomy. 
Chapter 3 

Female Autonomy and Demographic Behavior 

Using the EDHS data we now examine whether two important demographic outcomes, the current 

use of contraception by women and the survival of their young children, are associated systematically with 

the three defined indices of autonomy. Note that the current use of contraception is highly correlated with 

fertility in Egypt (Sayed et al., 1989). Although causality between the indices of autonomy and the two 

demographic outcomes cannot be determined, we try to detect differences in the sensitivity of the 

demographic variables to each of the three autonomy indices. 

The overall expectation is that women with greater autonomy are more likely to use modem 

contraception and have a higher survival rate of their young children. More specifically, we believe that 

women who are in favor of women having some control over decisions that affect their lives, as well as 

women who do have control over such decisions, are more likely to adopt modem contraception and less 

likely to experience child mortality. There are two main arguments supporting such an expectation: one 

concerns the empowerment of women and another follows from the correlates of autonomy. 

Where women are empowered to make vital decisions concerning their lives and circumstances they 

are, by definition, in a better position to take care of their own interests. When decisions are being made by 

men for women, women' s interests may be totally ignored or they may not be given the same weight as those 

of men. To the extent that the net costs (the benefits minus the costs) of demographic events such as the birth 

of another child or the death of an infant are different for men and women (Caldwell, 1979, 1986; Ware, 

1981) it will matter whether women's interests are fully represented or not when vital decisions are being 

made. 

Further, the effective prevention of pregnancy and child mortality needs innovative action in an 

environment such as that of Egypt where both fertility and infant mortality are relatively high. Women have 

the responsibility of bearing children and looking after their health and welfare. Not allowing them control 

over decisions that directly and indirectly bear on this role is likely to limit their options and hinder them from 

taking actions they deem more appropriate. Thus, we expect that autonomous women, who are used to the 

responsibility of making and carrying out decisions regarding the welfare of their children and households, 

will also be more likely to have the capability of taking innovative action than women who have no direct 

control over their lives (Knodel et al., 1990; Dyson and Moore, 1983). 

Women who are more educated, who have some financial independence, and who live in households 

in which kinship structures promote gender equality are likely to be the ones who are also more autonomous 

(Mason, 1987; Dyson and Moore, 1983). Higher education and work outside the home have the two-pronged 

effect of raising the opportunity cost of the time spent having and rearing children (Standing, 1983), on the 

one hand, and of increasing awareness and exposure to new ways of thinking and doing things on the other 

(Lerner, 1958; Inkeles and Smith, 1974; Levine et al., 1987). In addition, the aspiration structure that affects 

the demand for children (Mason and Palan, 1981) is also likely to be altered in more educated households: 

raising the quality of children (in terms of health and education) is likely to be emphasized in favor of 

increasing the quantity of children. Kinship systems that generate greater gender equality have been found 

to be associated with lower infant mortality and fertility (Dyson and Moore, 1983). 

7 
Thus, women who are more autonomous are not only more likely to have the power and the freedom 

to take innovative action, but also, we believe, are more capable of taking such action. Further, the 

opportunity cost of having another child or having a child who then dies is likely to be higher for autonomous 

women since they are also likely to be the ones who are educated and working outside the home. Together 

these arguments imply that greater autonomy of women should be associated with lower child mortality and 

higher contraceptive use. 

3.1 Autonomy Indices and the Use of Contraception 

In order to determine whether there is an association between contraceptive use and the autonomy 

of women we examine two sets of statistics for each of the three indices: the mean autonomy by contraceptive 

use and the percent of women using modem contraception at each value of the index. This allows us to 

determine not only how a woman using contraception differs in autonomy, on average, from one who is not 

currently using contraception, but also whether women at higher levels of autonomy are more likely to be 

using modem contraception than those at lower levels of autonomy. This two-pronged approach is especially 

justified given the non-normal distributions of the indices of noncustomary autonomy and customary 

autonomy noted earlier. 

Examining the autonomy level by contraceptive use in Table 3.1, we find that the mean autonomy 

index value for each of the three radices is always greater among women using modem contraception than 

among those using no contraception at all. The difference in autonomy between users of modern 

contraception and nonusers is greatest when autonomy is measured by the noncustomary autonomy index. 

On average, women using modern contraception have a noncustomary autonomy index value 34% higher 

than those using no contraception. The corresponding differences when autonomy is measured by the 

customary autonomy index and by the realized autonomy index are 24% and 22%, respectively. These 

differences are all statistically significant. 

The higher mean autonomy of women using contraception persists even when controlling for the 

number of children ever born (i.e., reading down the columns in the main body of Table 3.1 ). At each parity, 

and for all three indices, women using contraception have a significantly higher mean autonomy level (the 

z-scores are significant at a probability of .01 or less) than women not using contraception. In passing, it is 

worth noting that at higher parities, the mean autonomy of women using traditional methods of contraception 

is consistently higher than that of women using modem contraceptives for all three indices. A possible 

explanation for this result is that women using traditional contraceptives may be those that live in a cultural 

milieu in which contraception is not acceptable and modem contraception is totally ruled out. Under these 

circumstances, to use any method at all would be innovative and associated with much higher levels of 

autonomy. However, not only does such speculation need a multivariate analysis to verify, but the result we 

are explaining may itself be an artifact of the small sample sizes involved. Women using traditional 

contraceptives are only 2% of all women and 6% of those using any contraceptives. 

Figure 3.1 reveals that the higher the index of autonomy, the higher the percent share of women using 

modern contraception. Women scoring the maximum value on either the customary autonomy index or the 

noncustomary autonomy index are twice as likely to be using modem contraceptives than women scoring 0 

on either of the two indices. The difference in the propomon using modern contraceptives among women 

at the two ends of the realized autonomy scale is even greater: women scoring 4 are two and a half times more 

likely to be using modem contraception than women scoring 0. 

8 
Table 3 1 Mean values of customary autonomy, noncustomary autonomy, and realized autonomy by contraceptive 

method and number of children 

Children ever born 

Contraceptive Total 

method 0 1 2 3 4 5+ Number mean 

MEAN VALUES OF THE INDEX OF CUSTOMARY AUTONOMY 

No method 2.94 2.80 2.69 2.44 2.50 2.16 5085 2.50 

Traditional 3.13 3.53 3.39 3.34 2.93 195 3._, 

Modern 400 a 3.43 3.46 3,28 3.15 2.80 2935 3.11 

Z b 1.36 5.32* 9.03* 9.54* 6.70* 1040" 16.62" IMm-Mnm) 

MEAN VALUES OF THE INDEX OF NONCUSTOMARY AUTONOMY 

No method 2.18 2.18 2.09 2.02 1.86 1.70 5087 1.94 

Traditional 2.67 2.75 3.14 3,06 2.60 195 2,82 

Modern 4.25 a 3.09 3.08 2.86 2.66 2.14 2935 2,60 

Z b IM m Mnm) 2.44* 7.23* 10.51" 8.62* 7 71 * 7.48* 17.36" 

MEAN VALUES OF THE INDEX OF REALIZED AUTONOMY 

No method 2.31 2.33 2.26 2.10 2.06 1.78 5087 2.06 

Tradmonal 2.53 2.56 2.75 2.86 2.30 195 2.55 

Modem 3.50 a 2.81 2.84 2,68 2.52 2.23 2935 2.51 

Z b 1.92 5.27* 8.71' 8.63* 6.21" 10.56" 16.48" IMm-Mnml 

N 751 917 1225 1212 1040 3072 8217 2.24 

aOnly 4 cases 

bM m is the mean for women using modern contraceptive methods, Mnm 

contraceptwe method and Z(Mm.Mnm) = (M m - Mnm ) / f3(M m . Mnml 

*Significant at p _< 0.01 

is the mean for women not using any 

9 
Figure 3.1 

Percent of women using modern contraception* at 

each value of the three autonomy indices 

50 46 47 47 

42__ 42 41 

40 38 

35 35 

3C 29 

30 

20 

10 

0 

Customary aut. Noncustomary aut. Reahzed aut 

Percent 

10~lndex values 

D1 

D2 

@3 

D4 

Note: Women using modern contraceptives comprise 36% of all currently married women. 

Thus the evidence suggests a positive bivariate associaUon between the use of modern contraceptives 

by women and all three measures of autonomy. Although customary autonomy appears to have the weakest 

association with modern contraceptive use, no one index emerges as having the strongest assocmtion with 

it. The difference in mean autonomy between users of modern contraception and nonusers is greatest when 

autonomy is measured by the noncustomary autonomy index. Also, those who have the highest score on 

noncustomary autonomy are the ones most likely to be using modern contraceptives. However, the difference 

in percent using modern contraception between women with the lowest scores and those with the highest 

scores is greatest for the realized autonomy index. 

3.2 Autonomy Indices and Numbers of Children Dead by Age 5 

As a first step to determine whether the mortality of young children and the autonomy level of their 

mothers are correlated, women were categorized according to their net parity and the number of their children 

who had died between the ages of 0 and 5. The net parity of each woman is the number of children ever born 

to her mtnus the nmnber of her currently surviving children between the ages of 0 and 5. Net panty rather 

than number of children ever born is used as the control variable m order to ehmmate the bias due to 

censoring of the mortality experience of children who have not yet completed 5 years of age. Two separate 

measures within each net-parity-by-number-of-children-dead category for all autonomy indices were then 

calculated: the mean autonomy level of women m each category and the percent of women in each category 

that had the highest levels of autonomy. The results are given in Tables 3.2 and 3.3. 

Looking across the rows of Table 3.2 we find that at each net parity, women who have no children 

dead have a higher mean autonomy level than women who have one or more children dead. Also, when 

autonomy is being measured by the customary autonomy index and the noncustomary autonomy index, the 

mean autonomy level of women with 0 children dead is always greater than the mean autonomy level 

]0 
Percent of women 

each value of 

F gure 3.1 

using modern comraception* 

the three atitc)norny inaices 

at 

50 

42 

40 38 

24 ~ 

46 

42 

47 

27 

47 

Customary aut. Noncustomary aut. 

Percent 

Realized aut. 

Note: Women using modern contraceptives comprise 36% of all currently married women. 

Thus the evidence suggests a positive bivariate association between the use of modern contraceptives 

by women and all three measures of autonomy. Although customary autonomy appears to have the weakest 

association with modem contraceptive use, no one index emerges as having the strongest association with 

it. The difference in mean autonomy between users of modern contraception and nonusers is greatest when 

autonomy is measured by the noncustomary autonomy index. Also, those who have the highest score on 

noncustomary autonomy are the ones most likely to be using modern contraceptives. However, the difference 

in percent using modern contraception between women with the lowest scores and those with the highest 

scores is greatest for the realized autonomy index. 

3.2 Autonomy Indices and Numbers of Children Dead by Aae 5 

As a first step to determme whether the mortality of young children and the autonomy level of their 

mothers are correlated, women were categorized according to their net parity and the number of their children 

who had died between the ages of 0 and 5. The net parity of each woman is the number of children ever born 

to her minus the number of her currently surviving children between the ages of 0 and 5. Net parity rather 

than number of children ever born is used as the control variable in order to eliminate the bias due to 

censoring of the mortality experience of children who have not yet completed 5 years of age. Two separate 

measures within each net-parity-by-number-of-children-dead category for all autonomy indices were then 

calculated: the mean autonomy level of women in each category and the percent of women in each category 

that had the highest levels of autonomy. The results are given in Tables 3.2 and 3.3. 

Looking across the rows of Table 3.2 we find that at each net parity, women who have no children 

dead have a higher mean autonomy level than women who have one or more children dead. Also, when 

autonomy is being measured by the customary autonomy index and the noncustomary autonomy index, the 

mean autonomy level of women with 0 children dead is always greater than the mean autonomy level 

I0 
Table 3.2 Mean levels of the radices of customary, noncustomary, and reahzed autonomy by number of chddren 

dead and number ol chlIdrcn ever born who are not currently between the ages of 0 and 5 

Number of clnldren dead between the ages of 0 and 5 

Net parity a 0 1 2 3 4 5+ Z(MI, Mx~ h Number 

MEAN VALUES OF THE INDEX OF CUSTOMARY AUTONOMY 

0 

I 

2 

3 

4 

5+ 

2.93 2535 

2 93 2 34 5 04" 887 

2 96 2.39 1.83 5 76* 946 

3.09 2.66 2 13 2 14 3.08* 897 

2.98 2.55 2 57 2.45 2.1 I* 777 

2.68 2.62 2,30 2.18 2.02 1.85 5.35 ~ 2172 

MEAN VALUES OF THE INDEX OF NONCUSTOMARY AUTONOMY 

0 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5+ 

2 32 2535 

2 38 I 62 6.30* 887 

2.56 1.83 1.26 5 99" 947 

2 60 2 24 [ ~9 1.41 3 19 e 897 

2.44 2.00 2.06 1 58 3 I I* 777 

2.09 209 t.85 I 68 1.76 1 61 306* 2174 

MEAN VALUES OF THE INDEX OF REALIZED AUTONOMY 

() 2.39 2535 

I 2.42 2 05 4. I 0 ~- 887 

2 2.54 2.01 1.72 5.64 ~ 947 

3 2.42 2.07 1.77 2.09 I 31 8tl7 

4 2.30 2.12 1.86 2 03 1.35 777 

5+ 2,10 2 0q 1.94 1.87 1.69 l.h6 ~.88" 2174 

N 5334 1531 700 357 153 142 8217 

" See text for dehnitton 

b M0 Is Ihe mean when number ol chddren dead > 0, and M x Js the mean when number of children dmKI is the 

m;c,:lmtlln possible lot that panty and Z,,~6,.M~ a = (M , M~ )/~JI,;I,~ M~ 

<Signlficanl at p < 0.01 

11 
of women with the maximum number of children dead that is possible at each net parity. The difference 

in means of these two categories of women is also statistically significant (eighth column). In the case 

of the realized autonomy index, the difference in the mean autonomy of women with 0 children dead and 

those with the maximum possible dead at each parity is also positive and significant, but only for women 

who had a net parity of less than 3 or more than 4. For women with net parity 3 or 4, there ts no 

significant difference in realized autonomy among women with no children dead and those with 3 

children dead. (Note that there were no women in the sample with a net panty of 4 with 4 children dead 

between ages 0 and 5.) 

Interestingly, the difference in mean autonomy of women with 0 children dead and those with 

the maximum number possible dead is greatest for women at parity two for each of the three radices. 

Women with a net parity of 2 who have 0 children dead have a mean customary autonomy index value 

38% higher, a mean noncustomary autonomy index value 51% higher, and a mean realized autonomy 

index value 32% higher than women who have both children dead. This difference is greatest at all other 

parities for autonomy measured by the noncustomary autonomy index and least for autonomy measured 

by the realized autonomy index. 

Similarly, looking across the rows of Table 3.3 we find that the share of women scoring the 

highest possible scores on each index is higher among women who have no children dead than those who 

have experienced at least one child death. Further, if we measure the difference in likelihood of being 

in the highest autonomy group among women with zero children dead and women with the maximum 

number of children dead possible at each net parity, the difference is greatest for autonomy measured by 

the noncustomary autonomy index. Thus, although child survival appears to be associated with autonomy 

as measured by all three indices, the analysis suggests that it is especially sensitive to noncustomary 

autonomy. 

We conclude that both contraceptive use by women and the relative survival of children are 

positively associated with the level of autonomy of women. Women using modern contraception and 

experiencing no child deaths are likely, on average, to have a higher autonomy score on all dimensions 

of autonomy than those who use no contraception and do experience child deaths. Although not 

conclusive, this analysis further suggests that the different aspects of autonomy do not have an equal and 

identical association with demographic outcomes. Believing that women should have autonomy m matters 

not related specifically to children (noncustomary autonomy) is more consistently and positively 

associated with desired demographic behavior than are the other two dimensions of autonomy. 

12 
Table 3.3 Percent of women who have the highest scores on customary autonomy, noncustomary 

autonomy, and realized autonomy by the number of children dead, at each net panty level 

Number of children dead between the ages of 0 and 5 Ratio of 

col, 2 and 

Net parity a 0 1 2 3 4 5+ col. x b 

PERCENT OF WOMEN WHO SCORE 4 ON INDEX OF CUSTOMARY AUTONOMY 

0 60.99 

1 60.03 47.96 1.25 

2 60.20 45.56 26.15 2.30 

3 63.08 51.53 32.79 45.45 1.39 

4 58.13 47.56 45.35 50.00 1.16 

5+ 51.13 47.78 40.45 43.77 33.99 30.28 1.69 

PERCENT OF WOMEN WHO SCORE 4 OR 5 ON INDEX OF NONCUSTOMARY AUTONOMY 

0 28.48 

1 30.90 13.75 2.25 

2 35.47 21.11 12.31 2.88 

3 35.55 30.13 11.48 18.19 1,95 

4 30.71 22.35 19.77 13.16 2.33 

5+ 24.02 23.06 17.83 14.81 16.34 16.20 1.48 

PERCENT OF WOMEN WHO SCORE 3 OR 4 ON INDEX OF REALIZED AUTONOMY 

0 49.51 

1 50.00 37.17 1.35 

2 55.41 36.67 24.62 2.25 

3 49.92 38.43 26.23 45.46 1,10 

4 45.95 40.65 22.09 42.10 1,09 

5+ 39.84 38.55 33.20 30.64 22.23 26.06 1.53 

aSee text for definition 

bAt each net parity coIumn 2 is the column corresponding to 0 children dead and column x is the 

column for the maximum possible number of children dead. 

- Indicates no cases 

13 

Chapter 4 

Explaining Female Autonomy: Developing Hypotheses 

Women, like men, are members of several multilevel groupings that constitute society. They are 

members of regional clusters with associated socioeconomic levels of development and laws, of cultural and 

religious groups with associated kinship arrangements and accepted norms of behavior, and of households 

and conjugal units each with its own specific characteristics. And women are also individuals imbued with 

their own distinctive characteristics. The degree of autonomy desired and exercised by women depends not 

only on their own characteristics, but is also influenced by the characteristics, practices, and norms of each 

of the specific groupings of which they are members. It is this intersection of women's multilevel 

involvement in society with the multilevel influences on their autonomy that needs to be modelled for the 

specific case of Egyptian women. Specifically, we need to explain the cross-sectional variation in the 

autonomy of currently married Egyptian women as defined by the indices of customary autonomy, 

noucustomary autonomy, and realized autonomy. 

The EDHS allows us to incorporate into our discussion women's simultaneous membership at the 

household level? the conjugal unit level, and the individual level. We also know their religious affiliation 

and their regional membership based on the location of the household to which they belong. We are able to 

examine two sources of influence on women's autonomy: the modernizing and economic influences on the 

one hand, and the culture-specific influences embodied in the kinship arrangements to which women are 

subject, on the other. These influences are assumed to impact directly on each woman through her own 

characteristics, as well as indirectly through the characteristics of the household of which she is a member 

and the characteristics of her husband who is the other member of her conjugal unit. Following from the 

above we divide our discussion into two parts. First, we develop hypotheses pertaining to the modernizing 

and economic explanations of female autonomy, and then we develop hypotheses that take cultural influence s 

into consideration. 

4.1 The Modernization Approach to the Autonomy of Women 

The modernization theory of development argues that in the process of modernization, traditional 

barriers to mobility and self expression break down, giving way to new ways of thinking and doing things 

(Kuznetz, 1966; Inkeles and Smith, 1974). The traditional emphasis on the maximization of group welfare 

is replaced by a new emphasis on self-determination and the achievement of individual-level goals (Moore, 

1979). Urbanization, the spread of education, and increased exposure to mass media create the need for and 

facilitate innovative behavior that emphasizes autonomy in thought and action (Lerner, 1958: Moore, 1979). 

Since the modernization theory of development does not differentiate between sexes, the underlying 

assumption appears to be that innovative behavior and the move to individual-level autonomy are not gender 

specific. The erosion of traditional norms should free both women and men to take control of their own 

destiny and behave autonomously to maximize their welfare. The modernization process is thus assumed to 

be one that generates, in all, a need and a capacity for autonomy and self-determination. The processes of 

industrialization and urbanization, the spread of literacy and communications, as well as widespread exposure 

~A woman could be a member of a household as household head. However, xn Egypt female-headed households 

account for about only 4% of households (Nawar et a1.,1994) and only 0.3% of currently married women m the 

EDHS are household heads. Household headship Is potentially an important influence on autonomy However. 

because of the statistical insignificance of female-headed households in Egypt. tt is not discussed. 

15 
to the media have all been identified as vehicles of modernization. The economic development of the region 

in which the household is located and the socioeconomic status of the household are likely to mediate the 

extent to which individual members have access to modem education and thought. 

These arguments imply that female autonomy is an innovative response to, as well as a consequence 

of, the processes of modernization and economic development. Thus, we should expect the following: 

4.1.1 Area of Residence 

Women residing in households located in urbamzed, economically developed regions will he more 

autonomous than women residing in less developed, rural regions) In the case of Egypt this implies that 

women in the more developed Lower Egypt should have more autonomy than women in the less developed 

Upper Egypt, and those in the Urban Governorates and in the urban regions of Lower and Upper Egypt 

should be more autonomous than those living in rural Upper and Lower Egypt. 

4.1.2 Socioeconomic Status of the Household 

The higher the socioeconomic status of the household the greater is its potential ability to provide 

education and media-exposure to its members. The modernization approach equates this potential to the 

desire to do so. However, increased wealth and socioeconomic status can also enhance the ability of 

households to fulfill gender norms. If these norms are patriarchal, households may opt not to eliminate 

gender inequality, but, instead, to increase controls over women and curtail their autonomy. One example 

of such a response to increases in household socioeconomic status is the withdrawal of female members from 

the labor force as the wealth of the household increases (Agarwal, 1986). 

However, data specific to Egypt suggest that female autonomy, at least as measured by questions on 

the necessity of the husband's permission, knowledge about women's rights, and association memberships, 

is positively associated with standard of living (Nawar et al., 19941. Consequently, we hypothesize that 

controlling for cultural influences on autonomy (discussed below) the socioeconomic status of the household 

will be positively associated with female autonomy. 

4.1.3 Husband's Characteristics 

Since a woman is also a member of a conjugal unit, a woman's autonomy can be expected to be 

affected by the extent of her husband's exposure to modernizing influences. Specifically, the higher the 

education level of the husband and the greater his involvement in the modem production sector, the greater 

will be his wife's autonomy. 

4.1.4 Individual-level Characteristics 

Modernizing influences will affect a woman's autonomy also because they will be embodied in her 

own education, her employment experience, and her past and present exposure. Past exposure to modernizing 

influences is important since role socialization generally begins in the formative years. We expect that 

women who are more highly educated and have had early and continuing exposure to the world outside the 

home are likely to be more autonomous. 

2Egypt is divided into four major regions: Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, the Urban Governorates, which include 

the four urban centers of Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and Port Said, and the Frontier Governorates. Lower Egypt 

accounts for about 43% of the populatnm, Upper Egypt for about 35%, the Urban Governorates for about 20%, and 

the Fronncr Governorates for about 1%. Data are not avanlablc in the 1988 EDHS for the Fronncr Govcrnorates. 

16 
Modernization theory also implies that female labor force participation should translate into greater 

control over household resources. However, this relationship is likely to be mediated, on the one hand, by 

a woman's control over her own earnings (Greenhalgh, 1985; Bardhan, 1985; Safilios-Rothschilde, 1982), 

and on the other, by the respect given to a woman who is employed. 

In Egypt even a broad measure of labor force participation shows only a maximum of 20% of 

currently married women of reproductive age as working (Nawar et al., 1994). Women who do work often 

justify their labor force participation in terms of the economic necessity of helping the family financially 

(Nawar et al., 1994; Rugh, 1984). This suggests that working outside the home may be more acceptable if 

it is seen as fulfilling the financial needs of the family. 

To the extent that labor force participation is a means to fulfill family economic needs women who 

work and give their earnings for family use should be accorded a higher status within the home or community 

than those who earn but keep most of the earnings for themselves. And yet, modernization theory would 

predict that it is women who are able to dispose of their earnings by themselves are likely to have the greatest 

autonomy, and women whose labor and earnings are entirely in someone else's control are least likely to gain 

in autonomy from labor force participation. 

Aside from the issue of control over earnings, labor force involvement is likely to enhance a woman' s 

need for autonomy as well as expose her to ideas that emphasize women's autonomy. Indeed, research in 

some Cairo communities suggests that women who brought in wages were allowed a greater say in financial 

matters (Hoodfar, 1988). Thus, we hypothesize that working for cash will be positively associated with 

autonomy; additionally, working women with control over earnings will be more autonomous than those with 

little control over earnings. 

What of women who are employed but do not receive any cash for their work? We are unaware of 

any research specifically addressing the autonomy of such women. Clearly such work, being unrelated to 

earnings, is unlikely to directly enhance women's financial autonomy or directly improve the financial 

welfare of the household. Nevertheless, work paid for in kind (e.g., paid for with food) might help the 

household by freeing cash resources for alternative uses. Further, even work without cash earnings is likely 

to require greater freedom of movement for women and should increase their exposure to the world outside 

the home. Thus, we hypothesize that women working but not earning cash will be less autonomous than 

women working for earnings, but more so than women not working at all. 

Women' s exposure to modernization will also be affected by their migration history. Living in many 

places as distinct from living in only one place will increase the probability of exposure to different belief 

systems and alternative ways of doing things. In addition, the process of migration involves a break with 

familiar surroundings and the ability to survive in unfamiliar ones. This suggests that migratory women more 

than nonmigratory women will need to be more open to change and more resourceful. These characteristics, 

in turn, are likely to be positively associated with autonomy. 

4.2 Culture-dependent Influences on Female Autonomy 

The autonomy implied by economic development and modernization theories is likely to be mediated 

by the kinship structures within which women live and the culture-specific gender and age-stratification 

systems of which they are a part. Indeed, the degree of women's exposure to modem ideas, their freedom 

of movement outside the home, their access to modem education, and their involvement in the economic 

production process will all be guided to a lesser or greater extent by what is considered socially and culturally 

appropriate for women. 

17 
In most predominantly patriarchal societies that emphasize women's dependence on male kin, 

culturally appropriate behavior for women is not likely to encourage expressions of autonomy of either 

decision-making or action. Indeed, Dixon-Mueller (1993) describes the "essence" of patriarchy as a system 

in which "girls and women have little control over the circumstances under which they work. the returns for 

their labor, their sexuality, and the timing and number of their children" (pg. 25). However, the extent to 

which the normative assumptions about appropriate female behavior are adhered to are likely to depend on 

several aspects of the kinship stmcture, and on how these aspects impinge on women's individual 

circumstances. Of particular interest are factors that embody patriarchal controls: post-marital residential 

arrangements, marriage rules, and the roles of female fertlhty and having sons in woman's status attainment 

and autonomy. Let us examine each of these factors and hypothesize about its association with l;emale 

autonomy. 

4.2.1 Post-marital residential arrangements 

There are two aspects of post-marital residential arrangements that we consider: the nature of the 

household, i.e., whether it is nuclear or not, and whether the husband's relatives or the wife's relatives are 

co-resident with the couple. 

Women in extended famdles are likely to be less autonomous than women in nuclear households. 

There are two arguments favoring this association. First, the two types of households are likely to afford 

different opportunities for the expression of individual-level autonomy. Extended family living aff~wds a 

greater opportunity for control of women by others, especially control of new brides and young women who 

are at the bottom of the gender and age hierarchy (Dixon-Mueller, 1989). Since some of these "others" are 

likely to be senior women, it is clear that control within the family will be affected not only by gender, but 

also by age: women being afforded less autonomy than men, and younger women having less power than 

older women. Similarly, even younger men are afforded less autonomy than older men. By contrast, in a 

nuclear family the decision-making is much more likely to rest in the hands of the male head, and the next 

in line is much more likely to be his wife. 

Second, reversing the causality, we would expect women and couples who are more autonomous to 

self-select into forming nuclear households (Caldwell et al., 1988). In other words, women who are more 

autonomous are less likely to be living in extended or joint families precisely because their autonomy 

prevents them from living harmoniously in such families. Thus, at any point in time, we would expect a 

higher proportion of autonomous women living in nuclear households than in non-nuclear ones. This 

suggestion is borne out in part by data that show that married Egyptian women m nuclear households arc 

much less likely to be illiterate, and much more likely to have had self-arranged marriages than married 

women living in extended families (Nawar et al., 1994l. Thus, on both counts, we hypothesize that women 

in extended families are more likely than those in nuclear families to be autonomous. 

Even if women are not living in extended households, intergenerational obligations often imply that 

aging parents live with their married children. Patriarchal kinship stmctures emphasize the intergenerational 

responsibilities of males to their natal kin rather than those of females (Dyson and Moore, 1983). While this 

~mplies that the husband's parents are more likely than the woman's kin to reside with the conjugal couple, 

it also means that in households that contain a woman's m-laws, patriarchal traditions are more likely to be 

enforced. Further, it is more likely that a wmnan in such a household is in a more subordinate posmon than 

a woman in a household in which her own parents are co-resident or in which there is no kin co-resident. We 

can therefore expect women living in households with in-laws present to be less autonomous than those hvmg 

in households with no kin or their own kin present. 

18 
4.2.2 Marriage 

Marriage arrangements can affect a woman's autonomy because they impact on who she marries, the 

age at which she marries, and the ease with which she can dissolve her marriage or get remarried. Whereas 

the first of these factors affects her conjugal-level membership, the others will enhance or reduce her 

autonomy through her individual-level characteristics. 

Marriage to a relative, a fairly common practice in Egypt, has been associated with a lower status for 

women in Muslim countries (Moghadam, 1992). In Egypt being married to a relative is positively correlated 

with being married very young, being illiterate, and being married to a person selected by others (Nawar et 

al., 1994). These findings lead us to expect that women who are married to kin will be less autonomous than 

women not married to kin. 

A higher age at marriage and autonomy have been found to be positively correlated (SafiliosRothschilde, 1985), with causality running both ways (Mason, 1987; Standing, 1983; Cochrane, 1983; Smith, 

1983). Consequently, we would expect that age at marriage would be positively associated with a woman's 

autonomy. 

Rates of divorce have been found to be higher where women have access to, and control over, 

resources (Ackerman, 1964; Hull, 1977; Havens, 1973). Nevertheless, United Nations data reveal that 

countries with more egalitarian gender systems that accord equal rights of divorce to men and women can 

have rates of divorce similar to countries that have extremely inegalitarian gender systems that make it easier 

for men than women to divorce (United Nations, 1984). Consequently, it cannot be assumed that a high rate 

of divorce reflects a higher level of female autonomy; a high rate of divorce can also result from women's 

subordinate legal and social position so that a woman can be easily divorced. 

In Egypt, recourse to divorce appears to differ by gender, so that it is easier for men than women to 

divorce (Naguib, 1994). In most cases, men do not need to petition a court, but can obtain a divorce simply 

by repudiating their wives three times. Women, on the other hand, must expend a large amount of time and 

money and go through a court. 

The data we have in the EDHS are not on divorce, but on whether women have been remarried. 

Keeping in mind that remarriage can occur following a divorce or widowhood, what can be said about the 

relative autonomy of remarried women? Our discussion does not suggest a direct association between being 

divorced and the autonomy of a woman in Egypt. Nonetheless, we expect that a women who has experienced 

the dissolution of a marriage (for whatever reason), and has entered into another, is more likely to require and 

display greater control over her life than a woman who has not had this experience. 

4.2.3 Number of children and son preference 

At the macro level, regions of low female autonomy are also regions where fertility is high (Dyson 

and Moore, 1983). One explanation of this is that for a woman living in a patriarchal household, children, 

especially sons, are likely to help secure her position in her husband's home and improve her status (Blake, 

1965; Wolf, 1972; Dixon, 1975; Caldwell, 1986). However, this explanation also implies that women who 

are more autonomous initially, or those whose circumstances allow them to be more autonomous, are less 

likely to need children or sons as props to their status. 

Even when children are needed to acquire status, it is not clear whether a greater number of children 

will enhance autonomy more than a lesser number. Also, although the literature has emphasized the 

19 
importance of sons, we do not know whether a larger number of daughters will leave a woman's autonomy 

unaffected or reduce it. 

In Egypt, the cultural tradition does stress the mlportance of male children, but this emphasis 

translates into only a moderate level of son preference (Cleland et al., 1983). Women in Egypt appear not 

to be as completely devoid of other sources of status or security as women in some South Asian regions where 

patrilocal village exogamy leaves married women isolated among strangers. In these regions, the practice 

of exogamy has been found to be associated with extreme son preference (Klshor. 1992a, 1992b). Indeed, 

ethnographic and empirical data reveal that women in Egypt tend to live near their families of origin, often 

receive some personal property at marriage and compensation in case of divorce, and can accept help from 

a daughter as a last resort (Makinson, 1986, 1987). These factors, combined with the fact that autonomous 

women are also the ones who are less likely to need a large number of children as security, y~eld the following 

hypothesis: The number of sons wall be positively, though moderately, related to female autonomy, and the 

number of daughters will be unrelated to autonomy. 

The hypotheses developed so far have not specifically differentiated between the impact of 

modernization and cultural influences on the different aspects of autonomy. In addition to the over-all effect 

of these factors, we are interested in the relative difference m their impact on the three different dimensions 

of autonomy as measured by the indices of customary autonomy, noncustomary autonomy and realized 

autonomy. We have noted that high scores on the customary autonomy index are typmal among Egyptian 

women but are the exception on the noncustomary autonomy index. This suggests that the belief that women 

should influence decision-making in the domestic sphere is more likely to be the norm, and the behef that 

women should have influence in decision-making in the non-domestic sphere is more likely to be reflective 

of innovative thinking. If this is the case, we can expect that the model of autonomy we have developed will 

better explain variations in noncustomary autonomy than in customary autonomy. Note, however, that the 

stronger normative basis of customary autonomy also implies that variation in levels of the customary 

autonomy index should be observed across groups between which the norm itself differs. 

The impact of modernizing influences and kinship structures lS hkely to also dlff;er between the 

indices that reflect women's opinions about women's decision-making roles, on the one hand, and realized 

autonomy, on the other. For one, realized autonomy is likely to be more influenced by practical 

considerations: for example, a woman who works outside the home is hkely to need and get more freedom 

of movement not necessarily because she may desire it more, but because working outside the home requires 

her to have it. Further, the reahzed autonomy of women is the most visible form of all the forms of autonomy 

being considered. In patriarchal societies the status of the entire household can rest on the behavior of 

women. Thus, kinship structures are likely to reinforce traditional norms about behavior. Consequently, the 

transformation of exposure to modernizing influences into "modem" behavior by the individual woman may 

also be more difficult under patriarchal kinship arrangements. Thus, we expect kinship arrangements to play 

a greater role, and individual-level factors to play a lesser role, in explaining variation in realized autonomy 

as compared with the other dimensions of autonomy, especially noncustomary autonomy 

20 
Chapter 5 

Explaining Female Autonomy: The Case of Egypt 

As already mentioned, the data used to test these hypotheses are taken from the 1988 EDHS. Along 

with information on women's autonomy, the EDHS also contains information on each woman's 

socioeconomic and cultural background, some information on her husband, her migration experience, and 

on other individual-level and household-level characteristics. In Section 5.1 we describe the dependent and 

independent indicators used in the analysis, in Section 5.2 the methodology used, and in Section 5.3 the 

results of the empirical analysis. The means and standard deviations for all indicators are given in Table 5.1. 

The correlations can be found in Appendix 1. Note that due to missing data on several of the variables, the 

summary statistics and the multivariate analyses are based on only 7,717 women, which represents 94% of 

the available unweighted sample of currently married women. 

5.1 Description of Variables 

5.1.1 Dependent variables 

The dependent variables for the multivariate analysis are the three autonomy indices, i.e., customary 

autonomy, noncustomary autonomy, and realized autonomy. For ease of calculation and interpretation, each 

index is collapsed into three categories--low, medium, and high autonomy--which are defined separately 

for each index as shown below. 

Note, however, that when used as independent 

instead of dependent variables, these autonomy indices 

are used in their original, uncollapsed form. 

5.1.2 Independent variables 

Economic and modernization variables 

Scores on index of: 

NonCustomary customary Reahzed 

Autonomy auton- auton- autoncategory omy omy orny 

Low 0 and I 0 and 1 () and I 

Medmm 2 and 3 2 and 3 2 

High 4 4 and 5 3 and 4 

It has been hypothesized earlier that relative to 

other women, women who live in the urbanized and developed regions of the country and in wealthier households, who have more education, who are employed for 

cash, who have greater exposure to nontraditional ways of thinking and doing things, who have educated 

husbands, and whose husbands are professionals or are involved in modem industry or modem services, are 

likely to have higher autonomy. 

In order to capture the impact of living in urbanized and more developed regions on autonomy, 

dummies have been defined for the five major regions-cum-residence areas of the country: the Urban 

Govemorates, urban Lower and urban Upper Egypt, and rural Lower and rural Upper Egypt. Although the 

sample of women is almost equally divided between urban and rural areas, about half of those who live in 

urban areas, live in the Urban Govemorates. Early exposure to modernizing influences is mcluded in the 

form of a dummy for area of residence (rural or urban) before the age of 12. Migration history is measured 

indirectly by the proportion of a woman's life spent in the place of interview. The respondent's education 

ts measured by her number of years of schooling, and her husband's education level is measured by his 

number of years of schooling. On average, women in the sample had 4 years of schooling and their husbands 

21 
Table 5 1 Means and standard deviations fbr all vartables included in the 

analysts of women's autonomy in Egypt 

Standard 

Vartables Means deviation 

DEPENDENT VARIABLES 

Index of customary autonomy (range 0-4) 

Index (If noncustomary autononly (range 0-5) 

Index of reahzed autonomy (range 0-4) 

EXPLANATORY VARIABLES 

MODERNIZATION VARIABLES 

Household characteristics 

Region dummies' 

Urban Govcrnorates 

Urban Lower Egypt 

Urban Upper Egypt 

Rural Lower Egypt 

Rural Upper Egypt 

St~cmeconom~c mdex (range 0 24) 

Indlvldua[ characteristics 

Years of education 

Hours spent watching TV per day 

Lived up Io age 12 m rural area 

Proportion of life spent In place of interview 

Own employment 

Cuffently employed for cash and earnings 

AI least half for self 

More than half to family 

Currently employed not for cash 

Currently nol employed 

Husband's characteristics 

Husband's years of education 

Husband's professmn dumm*es 

Professional, ]n~agerta[, technical, mid clerical 

Sales and service 

Skilled and unskilled production 

Agriculture 

None or don't know 

CULTURAL VARIABLES 

Household characteristics 

Household s~ze 

Q'o residence dunl]n]es 

Husband's relat*ves hwng m household 

Own relatives Itwng In household 

No relatives hying in household 

[ndt vldual characteristics 

Age 

Respondent 1~ Mushm 

MinT*age and chddren 

Age at first mm-nage 

Mamed more than once 

Husband ts first cousin 

Number of sons 

Number of daughters 

2 72 1 61 

2 18 1 67 

2 2q I i9 

0.26 

011 

012 

0 27 

0 24 

871 

3 89 

2 09 

(~ 77 

0 L1 

0 09 

0 08 

0 80 

5.72 

017 

0.24 

0 27 

(I 28 

0.04 

7 07 

0.27 

(102 

071 

~2.17 

0 93 

18 17 

0 05 

0 27 

2.09 

[ 96 

6 55 

5 10 

2 25 

~J 33 

5.60 

3 77 

841 

417 

1 7t~ 

22 
had 6 years. A woman's current exposure to the media is measured by the number of hours per day spent 

walching television. The husband's profession is also captured in terms of dummies. Agriculture and manual 

production (skilled and unskilled) are the major occupations among husbands, followed by sales and service 

occupations. Barely 17% of husbands are professionals or in clerical occupations. The reference category 

in the analysis is women whose husbands are in agricultural occupations. Note that this category also 

includes a negligible number of women (0.04%) whose husbands had unknown occupations. 

No household income data are available in the EDHS. Instead, socioeconomic status is measured 

by an index based on the number of consumer durables owned by the household and the household' s toilet 

facilities. This index is multiplicative and ranges from 0 for households that had no, or very primitive, toilet 

facilities, and none of eight possible durable consumer goods, 1 to 24 for households that had modem toilet 

facilities and all eight durable consumer goods. 

In light of previous discussion about the necessity to distinguish between types of employment and 

the degree of control over earnings, women's current employment status 2 is captured by four dummy 

variables: employed for cash with control over earnings, employed for cash with little control over earnings, 

employed, but not for cash, and not employed. A woman is assumed to control earnings when she keeps at 

least half of her earnings for herself; she is assumed to have little control over earnings when she gives most 

of her earnings to her family. Only about two in ten women were currently employed: 3% worked for cash 

and had control over their earnings, 9% worked for cash with little control over earnings, and 8% were 

employed, but not for cash. Given the extremely small numbers of women that were employed, and the even 

smaller numbers in each professional category, it was not possible to include information on women's 

professions in the model. 

Cultural variables 

The autonomy of women is likely to be related to factors that are at least in part culture specific, and 

others that are important because kinship structures make them so. Among these factors are age of the 

respondent, religion of the respondent, marriage patterns, postmarital residential arrangements, and number 

of children by gender. 

While age of the woman is measured directly, a dummy is included for religion (Muslim= 1 ). Women 

in the sample are on average 32 years, and nine out of ten are Muslim. 

Three indicators of marriage arrangements are included: the age at first marriage, whether the 

respondent is married more than once, and whether she is married to a first cousin. On average women first 

married at the age of 18, 27% are married to a first cousin, and one in twenty have been married more than 

once. Since this sample contains only currently married women, currently divorced or widowed women who 

are not currently married are excluded. 

Postmarital residential arrangements are measured by whether the respondent's household includes 

her own relatives, her husband's relatives, or no relatives. The majority of women did not have co-resident 

relatives. However, in keeping with patriarchal tradition, 27% did have husband's relatives living with them, 

but only 2% had their own relatives living with them. 

iThe durable goods included were refrigerators, cars, televisions, videos, cassette recorders, electric fans, 

gas/electric cooking stoves, and washing machines. 

aA women's premarital employment experience was originally included in the analysls, but was found to have 

no relationship with autonomy. 

23 
Household size is used as a proxy for type of household. The more members present in the 

household, the more likely it is to be an "extended household." On average the households to which the 

women belonged had about 7 people. Also, women on average had 4.1 children, of whom slightly less than 

half were daughters and a little more than half were sons. 

All of the independent variables defined are hypothesized to have an effect on each of the three 

indices of autonomy; however, these indices are themselves moderately well correlated. Consequently, the 

total impact of any explanatory variable on each autonomy index of interest will potentially comprise a d~recteffect component and an indirect-effect component. The indirect effect arises out of the explanatory 

variable's simultaneous impact on the other aspects of autonomy, which are m turn correlated with the given 

index. In order to understand both the direct and indirect effects of all explanatory variables, we estimate two 

different models for each autonomy index. In Model 1 each autonomy index is regressed on the economic, 

modernization, and kinship structure variables discussed above. The coefficients of this model will capture 

the "total effect" of each variable on the autonomy index. In Model 2 we add to Model 1 the other two 

autonomy indices. Doing so allows us to better isolate the direct effect of each variable on the index of 

interest and determine whether the impact of each explanatory variable on any given index ms entirely 

captured and explained away by the level of the other autonomy indices. Model 2 also allows us to see how 

the three indices are related within a multivariate context. 

5.2 Methods 

The discrete and ordered form of the autonomy indices necessitates the use of Ordered Logit 

Regression techniques to evaluate alternative models. For a three-category dependent variable, following 

Greene's discussion ( 1993, pp. 672-6), the ordered logit model estimates a latent or unobserved variable y* 

as a linear function of X, a vector of independent variables such that 

y* - [J/X + 

where ~ Is logistically distributed. Maximum likelihood procedures are used to estimate the 13' s and one other 

unknown parameter la using values of the observed variable y such that 

y -0 if y* ~0 

y- 1 /f O<y*g p, 

y =2 if ~t ~y* . 

The answers to questions about decision-making within the household and freedom of movement arc 

assumed to measure different aspects of autonomy. However, in reality, all three aspects of autonomy are 

latent. Thus, for each autonomy index, y* represents this unobserved measure of autonomy, whereas the 

actual scores on the index are values of the observed variable, y. 

The estimated 13" s in the ordered logit regression are not equivalent to a linear effect on the dependent 

variable of a marginal change in regressors. Consequently, we report the probability changes associated with 

the coefficients instead of the coefficients themselves. (See Appendix 2 for details.) If the regressor is 

continuous, the probability change can be interpreted as the percent change in probability of being in the low, 

medium, or high autonomy category of the dependent autonomy index due to a marginal change in the 

24 
regressor; if the regressor is a dummy variable, the probability change 3 can be interpreted as the percent 

change in probability of being in the low, medium, or high autonomy category of the dependent autonomy 

index due to a change in the dummy value from 0 to 1. Tables 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4 present the results for the 

three autonomy indices of customary autonomy, noncustomary autonomy, and realized autonomy. 

5.3 Results 

5.3.1 Multivariate Analysis of Customary Autonomy 

The results presented under Model 1 in Table 5.2 tell us the estimated total effects (direct plus 

indirect), in terms of percent change in probability, on women's level of customary autonomy of each 

regressor. Women in both rural and urban Upper Egypt differ significantly in terms of their level of 

customary autonomy from women in urban Lower Egypt (the reference region), whereas women m rural 

Lower Egypt or in the Urban Goveruorates do not. Specifically, women in rural Upper Egypt have a 55% 

and 16% higher probability of being in the low and middle customary autonomy groups, respectively, and 

a 25% lower probability of being in the highest customary autonomy group as compared with women in 

urban Lower Egypt. The probability differences between women in urban Upper Egypt and urban Lower 

Egypt are similar, though somewhat smaller in magnitude. 

A higher household socioeconomic status increases the probability of having a high level of 

customary autonomy and lowers the probability of having a medium or low level. Each additional year of 

the woman's own education and that of her husband's and each additional hour of exposure to the outside 

world through television viewing also increase the probability of scoring high on customary autonomy and 

reduce the probability of scoring at the medium or low level. As should be expected, the increase in the 

probability of being in the high category of customary autonomy due to a one-year increase in own education 

is almost four times that of a one-year increase in husband's education. 

Women do not differ m their level of customary autonomy by their overall migratory experience. 

However, women whose childhood was spent in rural areas had a significantly higher probability of scoring 

at a low or medium level of customary autonomy and a lower probability of scoring high than women whose 

childhood was spent in urban areas. 

Interestingly, having a husband who is a professional or is in the clerical, sales or service sector does 

not distinguish women in terms of their level of customary autonomy from women whose husbands are in 

the agricultural sector. However, the level of customary autonomy of a woman with a husband in manual 

production differs significantly from women in the reference group: on average, she has an 8% higher 

probability of scoring high and a 12% lower probability of scoring low. 

As expected, the impact of women's employment on autonomy differs by whether women are earning 

cash or not and the extent of control of earnings. Women who earn and keep their earnings have a 23% 

higher probability of having a high level of customary autonomy, and a 35% and 20% lower probability of 

3Note the asymmetry between the probabilities reported for continuous and dummy variables. For continuous 

regressors, the percent change in probability of being in each of the low, medium, and high autonomy categories due 

to a marginal change in the regressor is mathematically constrained to sum to 0. For dummy regressors, it is the 

absolute difference in probability due to the dummy taking the value 1 instead of 0 of being m the low, medium, 

and high autonomy categories, which must sum to 0. The reported percent differences in probabilities reported for 

dummy variables are based on these absolute differences and need not add to 0. 

25 
Table 5 2 Percent change in probabtlity calculated from ordered Iogit 

regressmn estimates for alternatwe models of the index of customary autonomy 

Variables 

Percent change In probability 

of being m each cuatomary 

autonomy category '~ 

Modcl I Modcl 2, 

Autonomy Total Direct 

category elf cots clfects 

MODERNIZATION VARIABLES 

Household charactensncs 

Region of residence: 

(Ref. Categ Urban Lower Egypt) 

Urban governorates Low -2 11 2 31 

Medmm - 88 I 01 

High I 25 I 27 

Lower Egypt:Rural Low 9 80 7 12 

Medium 3 81 3 03 

High -5 46 3,81 

Upper Egypt,Urban Low ~0 94*** 36 92** ~ 

Medmm 9.81 12 5 I 

High -16 [3 17 83 

Upper Egypt Rural Low 5524*** 46 69*** 

Medium 1593 15ql 

High -25 32 20 98 

Socioeconomic level Low - 54*** 26 ~* ~ 

Medium - 21 14 

High 75 41 

Individual characteristics 

Years of education Low 1.19"** 37*** 

Me&urn 47 - 2 I 

High 1.66 58 

Hours watching TV Low 43* ~ 07 

Medmm 17 1/4 

Htgh 59 - 10 

Rural childhood Low 12,82** 4 56 

Medmm 5 17 2 011 

High 6.77 2 44 

Proportion of life spent m the Low 86 I 01 

place of interview MedLum 34 55 

H~gh I 20 I q6 

Own employment 

(Ref Categ ' Not employed) 

Employed for cash and 

Most earnings for self Low 34.64** 28 2q* 

Medmm 19 73 15 76 

H~gh 22 82 17 q7 

At least half to famdy Low I 2"~ 1 I 69 

Medmm - 51 4 74 

Htgh 7~ 6 2~ 

Employed not for cash Low 2103 *~* 20,04*** 

Medium 7 15 7 59 

H~gh -I I 46 -10 37 

26 
Table 5 2--cont 

Variables 

Percent change m prohabthty 

of being m each cuslomary 

autonomy category ~ 

Model I Model 2 

Autonomy Total Direct 

calcgory effects effects 

Husband's characteristics 

Years of education Low - 26 ~ ~ 05 

Medium - I 0 03 

High 37 - 07 

Profession' 

(Ref Categ Agdcuhure, and none or don't kno,~ l 

Professional, managermh Low 9 34 -a 46 

techmcal, or clerical Medium -4 15 - I 57 

High 5 72 I 96 

Sales and services Low 2 19 16 

Medmm 92 (17 

High 1,30 09 

Manual Production Low -12 42*** -7 53 

Medmm -5 55 -3 48 

H~gh 7 84 4 ~8 

CULTURAL VARIABLES 

Household characteristics 

Household size 

Relatives co-resident 

(Ref. Categ, No relatives co-resident) 

Husband's relatives 

Low 22 ~ l0 

Medium (18 06 

H~gh -~0 16 

LtJw 19 4"t*** 6 50 

Medmm 7 14 2 78 

High -10,29 -3 49 

Only wlfe'srelatlves Low -7 86 5 08 

Medmm -3 51 2 15 

High 4 72 2 78 

Indlwdualcharacterlstlcs 

Age Low 23 r~* -05 

Medmm - 0q - 03 

High 32 08 

Mushm Low 

Medium 

Htgh 

Marriage and chddren 

Age at first mamage Low 

Medium 

H~gh 

Married nlore Ihan once 

2 55 3 89 

1116 -1 71 

I 45 2 27 

Hllsbllnd is a ~lS[ cotlqln 

04 10 

112 - 06 

06 16 

Low 9 62 7 17 

gledmm 3 63 3 00 

High -5 47 -3 90 

Low 5 88 5 49 

Medmm 2 34 2 36 

High 3 34 -2 97 

27 
Table 5.2--cont. 

Varmbles 

Percent change m probability 

of bemg in each customary 

autonomy category ~ 

Model I Model 2 

Autonomy Total Direct 

category eflects effects 

Number of sons born 

Number of daughters 

Other autonomy mdlces 

Realized autonomy 

Non-customary autonomy 

Intercept 

P 

Log hkelihood 

Pseudo-R 2 

Low 

Medium 

Htgh 

Low 

Medium 

High 

Low 

Medium 

High 

Low 

Mcdlum 

High 

E41'** 121'** 

55 66 

-I 96 -I 87 

I 07 **~ 104"** 

42 57 

] 49 -I 60 

1.99"** 

1 I0 

3 09 

-9 89*** 

54a 

15 33 

.92*** -26 

1 00 118 

7010 91 -6342 82 

10 18 

"For dummy variables, this gwes the percent increase/decrease In probabxhty of being m 

each autonomy category on account of being m the dummy category coded 1 instead of 

the category coded O Tbese probabditles do not add to 0 (See text for explanatxon/ For 

continuous variables, thts gives the mcrease/decrease m the probabdity of being in each 

autonomy category per umt change m the explanatory variable These probabihlies should 

add to 0 with a margin of error due to rounding 

*** - coefficient on which probabxhtles are based Is slgntficant at probabdity < 1% 

** - coefficient on which probabdlties are based is sigmficant at probabdlty between 

1% and 5% 

* - coefficient on which probablhtles are based Is significant at probability between 

5% and 10% 

having a low or medium level of customary autonomy, respectively, than women who do not work at all (the 

reference category). Women who earn but do not control their earnings are no different from those who do 

not work. Women who are employed but do not earn cash are not more autonomous than women who do 

not work at all. Indeed, as compared with nonworking women, women who work but do not earn cash have 

a 21% higher probability of being in the low category of customary autonomy and an 11% lower probability 

of being in the high category. These results imply that if women work but do not earn cash for their work 

they are even more disadvantaged in terms of their level of customary autonomy than if they were not 

working at all. 

Few of the cultural variables significantly affect the level of customary autonomy. However, women 

whose husband's relatives are co-resident have a 10% lower probability of hav ng a high level of customary 

autonomy and almost a 20% higher probability of having a low level compared to women who have no 

28 
relatives co-resident. The presence of own relatives does not distinguish women from the reference group 

in terms of their customary autonomy. 

As hypothesized, older women tend to have greater autonomy than younger women. However, 

contrary to expectations, a greater number of sons and daughters is associated with a significantly lower 

probability of scoring high on customary autonomy and a high probability of scoring low. Additionally, the 

marginal impact of an additional son is greater than the marginal effect of an additional daughter. Whereas 

each additional son is associated with a 2% decline in the probability of having a high level of customary 

autonomy, each additional daughter is associated with a 1.5% decline. 

As discussed earlier, the impact of each regressor on the index of customary autonomy can be thought 

of as the sum of its direct and indirect effects. The indirect effect arises because a change in the regressor 

simultaneously impacts on both noncustomary autonomy and realized autonomy which are, in turn, correlated 

with customary autonomy. Adding noncustomary autonomy and realized autonomy to Model 1 almost 

doubles the pseudo-R 2 from 0.1 in Model 1 to 0.18 in Model 2. However, noncustomary autonomy has a 

much greater impact on customary autonomy than realized autonomy. In Model 2, a marginal increase in 

the index of realized autonomy increases the probability of being in the high category of customary autonomy 

by only 3% and decreases the probability of being in the low category by only 2%; the corresponding change 

in probabilities due to a marginal increase in index of noncustomary autonomy are 15% and -10%, 

respectively. 

As explained above, in Model 2 the signs and magnitude of the coefficients represent only the direct 

effect of the regressors on customary autonomy. From this model we see that the negative relationship found 

in Model 1 between residence in Upper Egypt and customary autonomy is almost entirely due to the direct 

effect of such residence on customary autonomy. We also find that controlling for other autonomy indices 

explains away some of the effect of residence in rural Upper Egypt, but enhances the effect of living in urban 

Upper Egypt. Nonetheless, the negative impact on customary autonomy of living in urban Upper Egypt is 

less than the negative impact of living in rural Upper Egypt. Together these results suggest that a) there is a 

difference in norms about who should control decisions in matters related to children between Upper Egypt 

and the rest of Egypt, with the difference being more in rural than in urban Upper Egypt, and b) the impact 

of living in urban Upper Egypt on customary autonomy is the opposite of its effect on the other autonomy 

indices. 

The socioeconomic level of the household and years of own education not only have significant total 

effects on customary autonomy but also have significant direct effects. However, the direct effects are half 

and one third, respectively, of their total effects seen in Model 1. Thus, whereas education of the woman and 

her socioeconomic class do directly affect her level of customary autonomy, a large part of the affect is 

through the positive impact of these modernization variables on the other dimensions of autonomy. However, 

controlling for the other autonomy indices explains the positive impact of television viewing and husband's 

education, and the negative impact of a rural childhood on customary autonomy. 

Only a part of the total positive effect on customary autonomy of being employed and controlling 

earnings is explained away by controls for realized and noncustomary autonomy. On the other hand, almost 

all of the negative impact on customary autonomy of working without earnings is a direct effect. Notably, 

the direct effect on customary autonomy of working without earnings control, though still not significant, is 

much larger and opposite in sign to its total effect. Thus, employment directly translates into greater 

customary autonomy only when women also control their earnings. 

Neither age nor the co-residence of husband's relatives affects noncustomary autonomy directly. 

However, the negative total effect of the number of sons and daughters on customary autonomy is almost 

29 
entirely due to a similarly strong direct negative effect, implying that among the three radices, customary 

autonomy is the one most affected by the number of sons and the number of daughters. 

5.3.2 Multivariate Analysis of Noncustomary Autonomy 

Table 5.3 presents the ordered Iogit estimates for alternative models of noncustomary autonomy. 

Note that for noncustomary autonomy, the direction (positive or negative) of impact of all regressors on the 

probabihty of being in the medium category is the same as the direction of impact of being in the high 

category. By contrast, for customary autonomy (and, as we shall see, for realized autonomy too) the direction 

of impact of each regressor on the medium category is the same as that for the low category. Substantively. 

this implies that the effect of each regressor is to alter most the probability of a woman having a low score 

m noncustomary autonomy and a high score in customary and realized autonomy. 4 

As before, the probabilities reported under Model I represent the total effect of regressors, In this 

model, in comparison with women living in urban Lower Egypt, women living in the Urban Govemorates 

have an 18% higher probability of scoring high on noncustomary autonomy and those living in rural Upper 

Egypt have a 25% lower probability of sconng high on noncustomary autonomy. Women in all other areas 

do not differ significantly from women in urban Lower Egypt (the reference category ) in terms of their scores 

on noncustomary autonomy. A woman who had a rural childhood had on average an 1 1% lower probability 

of scoring high on noncustomary autonomy. 

As was the case for customary autonomy, most of the modernization varmbles tend to have the 

predicted impact, positive and significant, on the probability of also scoring high on the noncustomary 

autonomy index. Thus, the higher the socioeconomic index of the household, the number of years of own 

education, the number of hours of television viewing, and the number of years of husband' s education, the 

higher the probability of scoring either high or medium, and the lower the probability of scoring low, on 

noncustomary autonomy. Again, one year of own education adds more to the probability of scoring high on 

noncustomary autonomy than an additmnal year of husband's education. 

As compared wnh women whose husbands are in agriculture, women whose husbands are in 

professional, technical, or clerical jobs have a 20% higher probability of scoring high on noncustomary 

autonomy. Similarly, compared to women in the reference group, women whose husbands were in manual 

production had a 16% higher probability of scoring high on noncustomary autonomy Having a husband in 

sales and service occupations did not distinguish women in terms of their level of noncustomary autonomy. 

Although working with control over earmngs distinguished women in terms of customary antonomy, 

it did not, contrary to expectations, distinguish them in terms of their noncustomary autonomy. Rather, 

women who were employed but did not control their earnings had a 23% higher probability of scoring high 

on noncustomary autonomy and a 16% lower probability of scoring low than women who did not work. 

Again, women who worked without earning had a significantly lower probability of scoring high on 

noncustomary autonomy than women who did not work. Consequently, only women who work with little 

control over eamings appear to have significantly higher levels of noncustomary autonomy than other 

women. 

Women living in larger households tend to have a lower probability of scoring high or medium on 

noncustomary autonomy. The presence of the husband's relatives has a negative impact on women's scores 

4This follows from the mathematmal reqmrement that changes, i.e., percent changes in probability for continuous 

variables and absolute changes in probability for dummies, over all categories of the dependent variable mu~t sum 

to O. 

31") 
Table 5.3 Percent change in pmbaNhty calculated from ordered logit 

regression estimates of alternatwe models of the index of noncustomary 

autonomy 

Variables 

Percent change in 

probability of being 

in each noncustomary 

autonomy category a 

Model I: Model2: 

Autonomy Total Direct 

category effects effects 

MODERNIZATION VARIABLES 

Household characteristics 

Regxon of resLdence. 

(Ref Categ Urban Lower Egyptl 

Urban governorates Low 1287'** 13.78"** 

Me&urn 2 87 3 70 

High 18116 2{} 28 

Lower Egypt Rural Low 8.99 I 0 18 

Medium 2 24 2 89 

High -10.31 -11.87 

Upper Egypt:Urban Lwx 3 18 13.36"* 

Medium 74 3 34 

High 4 04 19 27 

Upper Egypt Rural Low 2476 ~ 378 

Medium -6 60 I 05 

High -25 14 5 02 

Soclo ecollonllC level Low 68*** 38*** 

Medium 20 15 

High 49 23 

Individual characteristics 

Years ofeducatmn Low I 94 **~ I 25*** 

Medium 56 50 

High 1 38 .75 

Hours watching TV Low -I 43*** -I 24*** 

Me&urn 41 49 

Htgh I 02 75 

Rural chddhood Low 9 51" 7 88 

Medium 2.10 2 06 

High -10.60 -9 22 

Proporilon of hfe spent m Low 2 08 1 54 

the place of mlerview Medmm 6{1 - 61 

High - 1 48 - 9"~ 

Own employment 

/Ref Categ : Not employedl 

Employed for cash and' 

Most earnings for self Low -12 8(1 6 46 

Medium 2 41 1 68 

Htgh 17 44 8 70 

At least half to lamdy Low 16 48*** -15 96*** 

Medimn 3 03 3 80 

H~gh 23 36 23 50 

Employed not [br cash Low 13.82"* 12 15" 

Medium 3 86 -3 72 

High -15 54 -14 15 

31 
Table 5.3--cont. 

Percent change in 

probablhty of being 

in each noncustomary 

autonomy category a 

Model I: Model 2: 

Autonomy Total Direct 

Variables category e f|k'cts eftect~, 

Sales and services 

Manual Production 

CULTURAL VARIABLES 

Household characteristics 

Household size 

Relattves co-remdent 

(Ref. Categ.: No relauves co-resident) 

Husband's relatxves 

Only wife's relatives 

Individual characteristics 

Age 

Mushm 

Mamage and children 

Age at first mamage 

Mamed more than once 

Husband Is a first cousin 

Husband's characteristics 

Years of education Low - 86 * * * 55 * * ~ 

Medmm 25 22 

Htgh 61 33 

Profesmon. 

~Ref Categ.. Agriculture and none or don't know~ 

Professional. managerial, technical, or clencal Low 14 12'* -1 I 28* 

Medium 2 90 2 94 

High 19 82 16 03 

Low 4 77 -2 15 

Medium I I l 60 

High 6 [7 2 81 

Low -[I 55*** 5 29 

Medium 2 62 I 47 

High 1602 7 13 

Low 77*** 54*** 

Medium 22 21 

High 54 32 

Low 28 16'** 24A2"** 

Medmm 7 31 6.99 

High 27 67 25 25 

Low 2201'* 2171 ~ 

Medium 3 I I 4 37 

High 32 21 3q 31 

Low 62 ~ 51"** 

Medmm 18 20 

High 44 3 I 

Low 10.55 5.0g 

Medmm -1.93 1 28 

High -11 29 -6 05 

Low 38** 34 *~ 

Medmm 11 - 14 

High .27 21 

Low 9 q9 2 48 

Medium 2 72 - 71 

Hzgh -ll 56 3 12 

Low 2.45 1 10 

Medmm -.60 .31 

High -2 98 1 40 

32 
Table 5.3---cont. 

Variables 

Percent change in 

probabihty of being 

in each noncustomary 

autonomy category a 

Model 1: Model2: 

Autonomy Total Direct 

category effects effects 

Number of sons born Low 72* 43 

Medium -,21 17 

High -,51 ,26 

Number of daughters Low 62 - 14 

Medmm -.18 05 

High 44 08 

Other autonomy indices 

Customary autonomy Low na -12 73*** 

Medium 5.07 

High 7.66 

Realized autonomy Low na -10.29"** 

Medium 4 10 

High 6,19 

Intercept -.21"** -2.70*** 

p 1.92 2 28 

Log hkelihood -7112.61 -6281.19 

Pseudo-R ~ 0.15 0 25 

"For dummy variables, thxs gives the percent increase/decrease in probability of being m 

each autonomy category on account of being in the dummy category coded 1 instead of 

the category coded 0 These probabihtles do not add to 0 (See text for explanation). For 

continuous variables, this gives the increase/decrease m the probabdity of being in each 

autonomy category per unit change in the explanatory variable. These probabihtles should 

add to 0 with a margin of error due to rounding. 

*** = coefficxent on which probabilities are based is significant at probabihty < 1% 

** = coefficient on which probabdities are based is significant at probabihty between 

1% and 5% 

* = coefficient on which probabduies are based is significant at probabdlty between 

5% and 10% 

on noncustomary autonomy; the presence of own relatives has a significant positive impact. As compared 

with women who have neither own nor husband's relatives co-resident, women who have their husband's 

relatives co-resident have a 28% lower probability of scoring high on noncustomary autonomy, and women 

who have their own relatives co-resident have a 32% higher probability of scoring high on noncustomary 

autonomy. 

As expected, older women score higher on noncustomary autonomy than younger women. However, 

contrary to expectations, a higher age at first marriage is associated with a lower probability of scoring high 

or medium on noncustomary autonomy. The number of sons reduces the probability of scoring high on 

noncustomary autonomy, but this effect is only marginally significant. 

33 
Adding realized autonomy and customary autonomy to the total effects model for noncustolnary 

autonomy increases the pseudo-R ~' by two thirds, from 0.15 to 0.25. The relationship of noncustomary 

autonomy with realized autonomy is similar in magnitude and direction to its relationship with customary 

autonomy. A unit increase in the index of customary autonomy increases the probability of scoring high on 

noncustomary autonomy by 8% and decreases the probability of scoring low by 13%. The corresponding 

probability changes for a unit increase in reahzed autonomy are 6% and -10%, respectively 

Despite the increase in pseudo-R ~ between Models I and 2, we find that most of the significant effects 

of explanatory variables on noncustomary autonomy appear to be direct effects. This conclusion is reached 

by comparing the results of Model 2 with Model 1. Indeed, while the magnitude of probabilities changes for 

some regressors, the signs and slgmficance for most remain unchanged. There are a few notable exceptions. 

Thus, controlling for the other aspects of autonomy, women living in rural Upper Egypt are no longer 

significantly different from those living in urban Lower Egypt. Instead, women in urban Upper Egypt have 

a sigmficantly higher probability of scoring high on noncustomary autonomy. Thus, in terms of direct effects 

only, women in the Urban Governorates and urban areas of Upper Egypt have a higher level of noncustomary 

autonomy than women in urban Lower Egypt, and women in rural areas of both Upper and Lower Egypt are 

no different in terms of noncustomary autonomy from those living in urban Lower Egypt. The direct effect 

of having had a rural childhood is still negative, though no longer significant. 

Controlling for customary autonomy and realized autonomy also explains away the significant 

differences in noncustomary autonomy between women whose husbands are in manual production and 

women whose husbands are in agriculture. The direct effect on a woman's noncustomary autonomy of 

having a husband in professional or clerical occupations is posmve and significant but weaker than the total 

effect. Finally, note that the number of sons a woman has does not, on average, affect her level of 

noncustomary autonomy directly. 

On the other hand, the direct effects of a higher socioeconomic level of the household, of a higher 

level of own and husband's education, television viewing, having a husband in professional or clerical 

occupations, being older, and having own relatives co-resident are all significant and positive. Similarly, thc 

d~rect effects of household size and husband's relatives co-resident also remain significant and negative. 

These direct effects comprise at least half of the corresponding total effects. Thus, a large part of the impact 

on noncustomary autonomy of both modernization and cultural variables (especially hours spent watching 

television, and the presence of own relatives and husband's relatives) is direct and not through the other 

autonomy indices. 

Finally, the impact on noncustomary autonomy of employment mediated by earnings found in Model 

1 is also almost entirely a direct effect. Thus, even after controlling for both realized and customary 

autonomy, when compared with women who do not work at all, women who are employed for cash and give 

most of their earnings to their family have a 24% (this was 23% in Model 1) higher probability of scoring 

high and women who work without pay have a 14% (this was 16% in Model 1 ) lower probability of scoring 

high on noncustomary autonomy. 

5.3.3 Multivariate Analysis of Realized Autonomy 

From Model 1, the total effects model, in Table 5.4 we see that women hving only in rural Upper 

Egypt are significantly different in terms of their realized autonomy from women living in any of the other 

regions in Egypt. Women in rural Upper Egypt have a 33% lower probability of scoring high and a 59% 

higher probability of scoring low on realized autonomy compared with women living in urban Lower Egypt. 

34 
Table 5.4 Percent change in probability calculated from ordered logtt 

regression estimates of alternative models of the index of reahzed autonomy 

Variables 

Percent change in probability 

of being in each realized 

autonomy category a 

Model 1: Model 2: 

Autonomy Total Direct 

category effects effects 

MODERNIZATION VARIABLES 

Household characteristics 

Region of residence: 

(Ref Categ : Urban Lower Egypt) 

Urban governorates Low 9 37 14 29** 

Medium 2 01 2 97 

High 6 73 9 91 

Lower Egypt:Rural Low 11.58 -1531"* 

Medlurn -3.11 -4 32 

High 9.58 12.98 

Upper Egypt:Urban Low 7 72 5.39 

Medium 1.63 I 20 

High -5 66 -3 97 

Upper Egypt'Rural Low 58 65*** 52 85*** 

Medmm 6.89 7 06 

High -32.63 -29 96 

Socioeconomic level Low - 50*** - 33*** 

Medmm - 15 -,11 

High 66 ,44 

Individual characteristics 

Years of education Low 1.36'** ,90*** 

Medium - 42 -31 

High 1 78 1,21 

Hours watching TV Low .47** .13 

Medium -. 14 -.04 

High 61 17 

Rural childhood Low 2 00 -3.43 

Medium 47 83 

High -1.50 2 69 

Proportion of hfe spent in the place Low 2.71"* 1.74 

of interview Medmm 83 60 

High -3 54 -2 34 

Own emplo~,ment 

Employed for cash and: 

(Ref. Categ.: Not employed) 

-Most earnings for self Low -25.112"* -20.92 

Medmln -8 87 6.99 

High 21 54 17.61 

-At least half to family Low 16 46** -13 37* 

Medium 4 99 3 91 

High 13.72 10.92 

Employed not for cash Low -17,70"** -22.06*** 

Medium -5 50 -7,33 

High 14 83 18.q0 

35 
Table 5 4--cont 

Variables 

Percent change in probablhty 

ol being in each reahzed 

dU [o11oIl/'~ ualegory a 

Model 1 Model 2. 

Autonomy Tutal Direct 

category elli:ct~ cIlccts 

Husband'~ characteristics 

Years of education Low 

Medium 

]bgh 

Prol¢~51on 

IRe[ Categ Agrlcuhurc and none or don't knex~ I 

Prolesslonal,managerial, technical, or clerical I~c~ 

Medium 

Ihgh 

89w~ 74~¢¢ 

27 26 

I 16 I O0 

q0 11}42 

7{; 2 Iq 

262 745 

Sides ;lnd service% 

Lm~ 42 I 76 

Medtun~ 10 42 

High ~2 I t2 

Manual Production 

Lo~ ~ 3~J 4 ~) 

Medium I 35 12 

I hgb 4 27 ~7 

CULTURAL VARIABLES 

Household cbaraclcnstlc~ 

Household ql7e [Al~, S(~ v e I (38 I I I 

Mcdnnn 26 2~ 

Iqtgh i 12 92 

Relatlve~ Lo resident 

(Ref Categ No relatives co-residentl 

Husband's relatives Low I ~ 60 ~ > ~ (, f}0 

McdlulU 2 RI I :;6 

Hlgb -o 51 -4 37 

On)?, v, tic'~ r¢latlvc~ I ii~ 9 87 2 84 

Medium 2 77 72 

Ihgh 7 88 2 IS 

Individual characteristics 

Age L.~ 0t; 0D 

Mt'dium {I 4 112 

High t i (17 

Mu~lnn Lo~ 4()83 "'~ II 44 ~ 

Mcdluul I I 94 ]2 ]5 

H]~'b 2{) 51 20 7 I 

Marriage aml ~hlldren 

Age at Jlr~t marriage [.o~ I ~ 05 

Medmm (14 02 

Ht~h 17 07 

Mamcd ]nor¢ Ihan once l.o,A 17 90" ' 17 '~S v. 

Mednnn ~ I}6 3 17 

High 12 58 12 46 

Husband i~ a first cousin 1.o~ I 6~ ~ 5(I 

Mc<hunl ~c) 87 

Ihyh [ 2fl 2 72 

Ntllllbcr td SOl1% born 1 .t }'~% 2,) i }4 

]~lcdluln O~J OI 

Hngl3 ~g I)~ 

36 
Table 5.4~cont. 

Variables 

Percent change in probability 

of being in each realized 

autonomy category a 

Model 1: Model 2: 

Autonomy Total Direct 

category effects effects 

Number of daughters 

Other autonomy radices 

Customary autonomy 

Noncustomary autonomy 

Intercept 

g 

Log hkehhood 

Pseudo-R z 

Low 56* 44 

Medium 17 15 

High - 74 - 60 

Low -1 28*** 

Medium -.44 

High 1.71 

Low 6.11'** 

Me&um -2.10 

High 8,21 

1 32*** 69*** 

1.39 1 48 

-7450.38 7184 12 

.10 .13 

~For dummy variables, this gives the percent increase/decrease in probabdlty of bemg m 

each autonomy category on account of being in the dummy category coded 1 instead of 

the category coded 0. These probabibtles do not add to 0 (See text for explanation) For 

connnuous variables, thts gives the increase/decrease m the probability of being m each 

autonomy category per unit change m the expl~matory variable. These probabilities should 

add to 0 with a margin of error due to rounding. 

* ** = coefficient on whtch probablhtles are based is significant at probabdity < 1% 

** = coefficxent on which probabihtles are based is significant at probabdity between 

1% and 5% 

* = coefficient on which probabihtles are based is significant at probabihty between 

5% and 10% 

Realized autonomy is again positively associated with the socioeconomic status of the household, 

the years of own and husband's education and hours spent watching television. Unlike the other indices, 

scores on realized autonomy do not vary by the husband's occupation. Also, the longer a woman has lived 

in her place of interview, the lower her probability of scoring high on realized autonomy. Thus, the migration 

experience of a woman, which is not significantly related with both customary and noncustomary autonomy, 

is significantly associated with women's realized autonomy. 

The realized autonomy of women is consistently positively related with being employed. Irrespective 

of whether women work for cash with or without control over earnings or work without earning, they have 

a higher probability of scoring high on realized autonomy than women who do not work at all. Notably, this 

is the only aspect of autonomy that is positively related to women working without cash earnings. 

37 
As was the case for the other measures of autonomy, larger households and co-residence of husband's 

relatives are both associated with a lower probability of a high score on realized autonomy. Realized 

autonomy does not vary by age. Interestingly, realized autonomy is significantly different between Muslim 

and nonMuslim (mostly Christian) women, with Muslim women having a probability of scoring high that 

is one fifth lower than that of nonMuslim women. Also, women who have been married more than once have 

a 13% lower probability of scoring high and an 18% higher probability of scoring low on realized autonomy. 

Note that neither customary autonomy nor noncustomary autonomy varied by either the religion or remain age 

dummy variables. 

The addition of controls for noncustomary and customary autonomy adds little to the pseudo-R~' of 

Model 1. It is notable, however, that realized autonomy is affected more by noncustomary autonomy than 

by customary autonomy. A unit change in noncustomary autonomy increases the probability of scoring high 

on realized autonomy by 8% and decreases the probability of scoring low by 6%. The corresponding effects 

on realized autonomy of a unit change in customary autonomy are almost negligible, i.e., at 2% and - 1%, 

though still significant. 

The direct effects of region on realized autonomy are different from the total effects, as can be seen 

from Model 2. In comparison to women in urban Lower Egypt, women in the Urban Govemorates m 

addmon to women in rural Upper Egypt have a significantly lower probability of scoring high on realized 

autonomy. On the other hand, women in rural Lower Egypt have a 13% higher probabihty of having hLgh 

rcahzed autonomy and a 15% lower probability of having low realized autonomy. 

Controlling for customary and noncustomary autonomy levels explains part of the eftect of several 

of the modernization variables by either decreasing the percent change in probability, as in the case of the 

impact of the socmeconomic status of the household and years of education, or by completely explaining the 

effect, as in the case of the migratory experience of the woman and number of hours of television vmwmg 

However, controls for noncustomary and customary autonomy explain only a small part of the impact of 

husband's education on women's realized autonomy. Note that the direct effect of a woman's husband's 

education on her realized autonomy is almost 80% as strong as the direct effect of her own education on her 

realized autonomy. Thus, the husband's education directly impacts a woman's realized autonomy almost as 

much as does her own education. 

Once variation in the other autonomy indices is controlled, women who were employed and kept 

most earnings for themselves are no longer significantly more likely to score high on realized autonomy than 

women who do not work. Also, a part of the positive effect of working and not controlhng income is 

explained. Thus, while the direct effect of all types of employment, like the total effect, is positive, the 

women most significantly different (i.e., having significantly higher levels of realized autonomyl fium 

women who do not work are those that either give their earnings to their families or those who do not receive 

cash for the work they do. 

The impact of the cultural variables on levels of realized autononay changes little between Models 

I and 4 with the exception that the negative impact on realized autonomy of the co-residence of husband' 

relatives ~s explained away. Thus. on average, co-residence of husband's relatives does not directly affect 

women's realized autonomy; it affects it only by lowering their customary or noncustomary autonomy, or 

both. 

Our expectation had been that realized autonomy would be affected more by kinship arrangements 

and less by individual-level factors. This assumption is upheld for the most part. A number of cultural 

variables have a significant effect on realized autonomy that did not affect other aspects of autonomy, and 

several individual-level factors, such as age and early exposure to urban living, do not affect realized 

38 
autonomy. Also, realized autonomy, more than the other aspects of autonomy, varies by household size and 

husband's education, but contrary to expectations it is negatively related to the co-residence of husband's 

relatives only indirectly. 

5.3.4 Comparison of Multivariate Results for All Autonomy Indices 

Although residence in the more urban and developed regions of the country was hypothesized to be 

associated with a higher level of autonomy, we do not find the different regions of residence to have a 

consistent ~mpact on all aspects of autonomy. Indeed, some tend to be simultaneously associated with 

significantly higher levels of one aspect of autonomy and significantly lower levels of another aspect of 

autonomy. Specifically, women living in the whole of Upper Egypt have lower levels of customary 

autonomy than women living in other regions. For rural Upper Egypt only this negative effect on customary 

autonomy is strong enough to induce a negative indirect effect on noncustomary autonomy. Realized 

autonomy is also significantly lower among women in rural Upper Egypt. However, the significantly lower 

levels of customary autonomy in urban Upper Egypt are matched by higher levels ofnoncustomary autonomy 

there, so that the total effect of residence in urban Upper Egypt on noncustomary autonomy is not significant 

but the direct effect is. Women m urban Upper Egypt do not differ in terms of realized autonomy from 

women in urban Lower Egypt (the reference group). Residence in the Urban Govemorates on the other hand 

is, simultaneously, positively related to levels of noncustomary autonomy, unrelated to levels of customary 

autonomy, and negatively related to realized autonomy. In summary, these results suggest that urban 

residence affects noncustomary autonomy positively and more than the region of the country does, residence 

in Upper Egypt affects customary autonomy negatively and more than the rural-urban division does, and 

realized autonomy varies in no predetermined fashion with either region or rural-urban residence. 

Both the socioeconomic status of the household and the number of years of education of the 

respondent have an independent and positive effect on all three aspects of antonomy. However, on average, 

a woman's husband's education level has a significantly positive direct impact on only her levels of 

noncustomary autonomy and realized autonomy and not on her level of customary autonomy. The results 

also suggest that a woman's realized autonomy varies more with her husband's education than does her 

noncustomary autonomy. In addition, a woman's realized autonomy is almost equally affected by her own 

and her husband's level of education, whereas noncustomary and customary autonomy are affected much 

more by a woman's own level of education than by her husband's level of education. 

Of the three autonomy indices, only the level of realized autonomy is unaffected directly and 

indirectly by the husband's profession. Further, women whose husbands are in sales and service do not differ 

with respect to their scores on any autonomy index from women whose husbands are in agriculture. Having 

a husband in the professional, managerial, technical, or clerical professions, as hypothesized, increases the 

probability of having higher levels of noncustomary autonomy but does not directly affect customary 

autonomy. Finally, women whose husbands are in manual production have a higher probability of scoring 

high on both the indices of customary autonomy and noncustomary autonomy. Given that the direct effect 

is not significant for either dimension of autonomy, we conclude that the belief that women should have a 

decision-making role in the traditional sphere and the belief that women should have a decision-making role 

in the non-traditional sphere are mutually reinforced if a woman's husband is in manual production. 

Exposure to the outside world through television viewing directly affects only a woman's level of 

noncustomary autonomy and only indirectly affects customary and realized autonomy. This suggests that 

continued exposure to new ideas leads to high levels of all aspects of autonomy primarily through changing 

women's views on women's roles in areas not traditionally in their control. On the other hand, the lack of 

early exposure to urban living as measured by the dummy "rural childhood" appears to affect women's 

opinmns about women's decision-making roles in all spheres (traditional and nontraditional) simultaneously, 

39 
so that the total effect of a rural childhood on both noncustomary and customary autonomy is negative and 

significant, but the direct effects are not. Realized autonomy, on the other hand, is unaffected by early 

exposure to rural living. 

The migration experience of a woman does not affect her expressed beliefs about women's decisionmaking roles, but does affect the probability of her having a high level of realized autonomy. This suggests 

that migration acts primarily to increase autonomy not by changing beliefs and norms, but by forcing greater 

freedom of movement on women. However, since we do not have information on how many times a woman 

may have moved or the duration of stay anywhere other than the present place this conclusion remains 

speculative. 

We hypothesized earlier that women who are employed will have greater autonomy than women who 

are not employed but that the strength of this relationship would be mediated by whether women earn cash 

or not for the work they do, and, if they do earn cash, whether they have control over their earnings or not. 

Our analysis reveals that the validity of these hypotheses depends on which aspect of autonomy is being 

examined. Only realized autonomy is consistently higher among women who are employed (irrespective of 

earnings) as compared with women who are not employed; customary and noncustomary autonomy are 

significantly lower among women who are employed as compared with women who are not employed if the 

employment is not for cash. Indeed, working without earning is simultaneously associated with higher 

realized autonomy but a lower probability of believing that women should have decision-making control. 

Greater control over earnings also does not necessarily imply higher autonomy: only customary autonomy 

is significantly higher among women who earn and keep most of their earnings for themselves. Working with 

control over earnings has a significant positive effect on realized autonomy only indirectly, whereas 

noncustomary autonomy does not differ between women who work and have control over earnings and those 

who do not work at all. On the other hand, both realized autonomy and noncustomary autonomy are 

significantly higher among women who earn but give most of their earnings to their families. 

The consistently positive impact of employment, irrespective of earnings and earnings control, on 

realized autonomy coupled with only an inconsistent effect on customary and noncustomary autonomy 

suggests that employment per se may not directly affect women's beliefs about women's roles in decisionmaking, and that the positive effect on realized autonomy of employment is independent of women' s beliefs 

about autonomy. Perhaps the positive association of employment with realized autonomy is due mainly to 

the fact that employed women require greater freedom of movement, a factor not mediated by earnings. On 

the other hand, working without cash earnings may negatively affect women' s opinions on women" s decisionmaking roles, because such work makes women's positions more vulnerable. Specifically, work without pay 

may remove women from their traditional domestic roles, roles that are imbued with prestige and that have 

culturally sanctioned routes of access to resources, without assuring them of other sources of prestige or 

compensating them with greater access to, or control over, resources. 

Explaining the contrary effects of earnings control on autonomy is confounded by the fact that control 

over earnings is defined not in terms of who decides what to do with earnings but in terms of how earnings 

are disbursed, i.e., whether women give most of their earnings to their families or keep most for themselves. 

Critical information on who decides that the woman's earnings should be kept for herself or given to the 

family and who decides the actual disbursement of this income is not available. Nonetheless, a possible 

explanation for women who earn and do not control their earnings favoring women' s decision-making control 

in nontraditional areas may be that it is precisely the fact that these women are earning and yet not controlling 

earnings that may make them want more control in nontraditional areas. Importantly, the fact that women 

who control their earnings do not differ in their views on noncustomary autonomy from women who do not 

work, but have much greater customary autonomy, suggests that control over income may primarily translate 

into a desire for greater control over the area for which women are traditionally responsible. 

40 
The size of the household does not directly affect levels of customary autonomy, but significantly 

reduces both the level of noncustomary and realized autonomy. This negative association of household size 

with autonomy can have at least two possible explanations. On the one hand, household size is likely to be 

positively associated with non-nuclear families, especially when control ling for the numbers of children. As 

discussed earlier, to the extent that living in non-nuclear families is the more traditional arrangement, women 

in larger households are more likely to have traditional power expectations and limited freedom of movement. 

On the other hand, the greater the number of people in a household the less likely it is that decision-making 

powers will rest solely in the hands of the respondent or her husband. The much stronger impact of 

household size on realized autonomy as compared with customary or noncustomary autonomy further 

suggests that women's freedoms and powers are inhibited by large households even more than women's 

opinions about such freedoms and powers. 

Simultaneously, however, the dummy variables indicating who constitutes the household in which 

women live affect only women's noncustomary autonomy. As expected, the co-residence of husband's 

relatives reduces the probability that women will have a high or medium level of noncustomary autonomy, 

whereas the co-residence of own relatives increases the probability that women will have a high or medium 

level of noncustomary autonomy. The fact that realized autonomy does not differ by the presence of 

husband's relatives perhaps suggests that the co-residence of husband's relatives does not cause women to 

have lower levels of realized autonomy, but that women who have more traditional views with regard to 

women's roles and decision-making powers are the ones who are more likely to be found living with their 

husband's relatives and less likely to live with their own. 

The remaining cultural variables either do not directly affect any dimension of autonomy or affect 

only one. Thus, noncustomary autonomy is significantly associated only with age and age at first marriage, 

customary autonomy only with the numbers of sons and daughters, and realized autonomy only with being 

Muslim and being remarried. Specifically, older women, as hypothesized, are more likely to express opinions 

favoring women's decision-making input in nontraditional spheres than younger women. However, the older 

the woman at the time of her first marriage, the lower her probability of scoring high on noncustomary 

autonomy. There is no obvious explanation for this last result, but it does suggest that we cannot always 

assume that in every culture a high age at marriage will necessarily increase women's autonomy. Especially 

in an analysis in which the correlates of an older age at marriage (factors such as education and employment) 

are being controlled, an older age at first marriage may negatively affect cultural perceptions of self-worth 

with consequent effects on autonomy. 

Given the greater prevalence of purdah among them, Muslim women are, not surprisingly, found to 

have lower realized autonomy than nonMuslim women. However, remarried women are also found to have 

lower realized autonomy than women married only once. Thus, our expectation of the greater autonomy of 

remarried women, based on the assumption that divorce (or loss of a husband) and remarriage require a 

woman to make decisions for herself, does not appear to be culturally appropriate. Instead, a culture-specific 

explanation needs to be sought which takes into consideration Islamic divorce laws, the more typical 

circumstances of divorce in Egypt, the extent of stigmatization of divorced or widowed women in Egyptian 

society, and the associated context-specific insecurities of women who have undergone divorce or lost a 

husband. 

Finally, among all the cultural variables, a woman's level of customary autonomy is associated 

significantly only with the numbers of sons and daughters she has ever had. This result is unexpected on two 

counts. On the one hand, it is unexpected because the number of sons even more than the number of 

daughters reduces the probability of scoring high on autonomy. Given that some son preference has been 

documented for Egypt, our expectation was that having sons should at least give rise to a greater sense of selfworth and also place women in a better position to take control over their lives. In addition, we did not expect 

41 
that the one dimension of autonomy to be negatively related to numbers of children would be customary 

autonomy, which is the dimension concerned with control over decisions related to children. Perhaps 

causality runs the other way: a low level of female control over decisions regarding children (especially 

control over contraception) being responsible for larger numbers of both daughters and sons. Nonetheless, 

this result underscores the findings of other researchers that high fertility is more typical of women with low 

autonomy. 

Judging from the pseudo-R 2, the modernization and cultural model best explains variations in 

noncustomary autonomy and least explains variations in realized autonomy. Further, whereas region and 

urbanization do not always have the expected result on various aspects of autonomy, all other modernization 

variables tend to be positively associated with autonomy, especially noncustomary autonomy. Finally, 

noncustomary autonomy appears to affect both realized autonomy and customary autonomy more than they 

affect each other or noncustomary autonomy. In other words, women who reveal high levels of 

noncustomary autonomy are much more likely to also have high levels of the other two aspects of autonomy 

than if they reveal high levels of either customary or realized autonomy. 

42 
Chapter 6 

Conclusions 

This analysis has yielded several insights, some expected and others unexpected, into the association 

of different facets of autonomy with desired demographic outcomes and into the factors that underlie the 

variation in autonomy among Egyptian women. Because these insights have applicability beyond the specific 

case of Egypt let us pull them together and examine the lessons that can be learnt. 

As researchers have repeatedly found, there is no one measure of autonomy. In this analysis we used 

three different measures and found them to be only moderately correlated with one another. Despite this, 

high scores on all three measures were found to be associated with a higher use of modem contraceptives and 

a lower probability of having any children die before the age of 5 at each parity. Thus, to answer a question 

that we posed at the beginning of this study, even in societies where female autonomy may not be a coveted 

female trait, higher female autonomy, however measured, is positively associated with favored demographic 

outcomes. However, if all aspects of autonomy are similarly related to demographic behavior, does it matter 

which aspect of autonomy we try to manipulate in order to achieve desired demographic outcomes? This 

analysis was not a multivariate causal analysis of demographic outcomes; consequently it cannot be used to 

answer this question conclusively. Nonetheless, the analysis does suggest that of the three indices of 

customary autonomy, noncustomary autonomy, and realized autonomy, the index measuring women' s views 

on who should have decision-making control in the domestic sphere (customary autonomy index) had the 

weakest association with the use of modem contraceptives and zero infant deaths at each parity, and the index 

measuring women's views of decision-making control in areas not traditionally open to women 

(noncustomary autonomy index) appeared to have the most consistently positive association. 

The relatively weak relationship of the customary autonomy index with demographic outcomes may 

m part be due to the fact that a high score on the customary autonomy index is not really telling us much 

about the woman other than that she is not different from most other women. Indeed, two out of three women 

had a score of 3 or 4 on the customary autonomy index, suggesting that the belief that women should have 

at least an equal say in matters related to the lives of children, family planning and having another child is 

a norm rather than an innovation among Egyptian women. By contrast, only 17% of all women get the 

highest score on the realized autonomy index, and even fewer score high on the noncustomary autonomy 

index. 

The relative importance of the three aspects of autonomy is only relevant if we find that they are 

affected by different factors or by the same factors in different ways. If they are affected by the same factors 

in the same way, then manipulating these factors should increase the level of all three indices simultaneously. 

Our cross-sectional examination of factors underlying the variation in customary, noncustomary, and realized 

autonomy revealed only few factors that were consistently and significantly related to all three aspects of 

autonomy. In addition, we found that there were some factors that either did not affect views on women's 

relative power in decision-making, but did affect realized autonomy, or were associated m one direction with 

the former while being associated in the other direction with the latter. In other words, while most factors 

have a similar impact on the indices of customary autonomy and noncustomary autonomy, they do not always 

have the same impact on the realized autonomy index. 

A number of the modernization and economic variables have the predicted significant association 

with all three indices, although, for most variables, the strength of the association is the least for the 

customary autonomy index. On average, the greater the wealth of a household, the greater the exposure of 

the woman to the outside world, and the more educated the woman and her husband, the greater is her 

43 
probability of scoring high on all three aspects of autonomy. Interestingly, of these, the impact of the 

husband's education is clearly the greatest on women's scores on the realized autonomy index, and that of 

exposure and women' s educanon is greatest on the noncustumary autonomy index. There is little difference 

in the impact of socioeconomic status on the three indices. Thus, it appears that modernization efforts that 

affect a women's individual characteristics impact on women most by altering their views about women's 

role in decismn-making; modernization efforts that affect the circumstances in which women live, such as 

the level of education of her husband, affect her realized level of autonomy most. 

In keeping with the stronger unpact of modernization variables on noncustomary autonomy we find 

that urban living, especially current residence in urban areas, is more conducive to scoring higher on 

noncustomary autonomy. Interestingly, however, urban hying does not necessarily imply higher levels of 

realized autonomy. Specifically, women living in the Urban Govemorates, despite higher levels of 

noncustomary autonomy, have a much lower level of realized autonomy than women from all other areas 

with the exception of rural Upper Egypt. On the other hand, Upper Egypt as a whole has women who tend 

to score lower on customary autonomy than women in other parts of Egypt. This suggests that perhaps the 

norm for autonomy in decisxon-makmg with regard to children is lower in Upper Egypt than in other parts 

of the country. 

Interestingly, early exposure to urban living affects women's scores on the indaces measuring 

women's views on decision-making autonomy, while leaving their scores on realized autonomy unaffected. 

On the one hand, this result emphasizes the innovative nature of high scores on noncustomary autonomy. 

On the other, it suggests that the norm of a high level of customary autonomy is reinforced by early 

socialization in urban rather than rural living. Further, the lack of any effect of early exposure to urban hving 

on realized autonomy once more suggests that individual-level characteristics affect a woman's exercise of 

autonomy least. In this context, we believe that the greater realized autonomy of women who have been 

recent migrants derives not from the greater exposure to new ways of doing things (for that should have 

affected noncustomary autonomy too) but from the greater need for freedom of movement among migrant 

women. 

The impact of employment on autonomy is different for each dimension of autonomy. Realized 

autonomy is the only aspect that is higher among women who work, irrespective of whether they control their 

earnings or not, and whether they earn cash or not for the work they do. By contrast, noncustomary autonomy 

is higher only among women who work and give most of their earnings to their families, and customary 

autonomy is higher only among women who work and keep most of their earnings for themselves. Women 

who are employed without cash earnings have lower levels of both customary and noncustomary autonomy 

than women who do not work at all. 

Together these results imply that autonomy as measured by perceptions about women's roles is not 

affected by employment per se, but by access to, and control over, earnings derived from employment. 

Working without earnings consistently undermines women's perceptions about the control women should 

have over decision-making in both traditional and nontraditional realms. However, if women earn, more 

control over earnings does not necessarily imply that women will favor greater female input in decisionmaking in the nontraditlonal realm. Indeed, the results suggest that more control over earnings translates into 

an increase in the hkelihood that women will want more control over decisions in their traditional areas of 

influence. 

Irrespective of earnings and earnings control, employment is positively associated with realized 

autonomy. Keeping in mind that the realized autonomy index is largely a measure of women's freedom of 

movement, this positive association is likely to be a consequence of the greater necessity for freedom of 

44 
movement among women who work. Note that this greater need for freedom of movement is unlikely to be 

mediated by earnings. 

Surprisingly, only a few cultural variables affect any of the aspects of autonomy directly. Controlling 

for modernization factors, we find that realized autonomy is lower among women who are Muslim, who live 

in large, perhaps non-nuclear households and who are remarried. Although the first two effects are as 

hypothesized, being remarried does not, as expected, translate into more autonomy. Indeed, the lower 

probability of realized autonomy among women who have been married more than once warns us against 

transplanting conceptions about cultural phenomena acquired in one cultural setting to another. 

This warning is also relevant for assumptions about the impact of age at marriage on autonomy. We 

find that women who have married late have a lower, not a higher (as predicted), probability of scoring high 

on the noncustomary autonomy index. Indeed, depending on the cultural context, an older age at marriage, 

especially controlling for education and other modernization correlates of an older age at marriage, may have 

a negative impact on self-worth with consequent effects on autonomy. 

Our hypotheses that the co-residence of husband's relatives would be associated with lower levels 

of autonomy, and the co-residence of the woman's own relatives would be associated with higher levels of 

autonomy, were upheld not for realized autonomy but for noncustomary autonomy. This suggests that the 

co-residence of in-laws is not causally related to autonomy. Instead the association may be due to the fact 

that women who co-reside with their husband's relatives are more likely to be the ones who have traditional 

views. 

Given the patriarchal basis of the Egyptian family, our expectation was that the number of children, 

especially sons, would enhance women' s autonomy. This expectation is not upheld. Indeed, the greater the 

number of sons, as well as the greater the number of daughters, the lower the probability of having high 

scores, especially on customary autonomy. This finding re-emphasizes the negative relationship of fertility 

with women's status. In addition, it suggests that higher fertility lowers women's autonomy even in their 

traditional areas of influence. 

Finally, controlling for all other modernization, economic and cultural factors, we found that all 

aspects of autonomy are positively and significantly related to one another; however, changes in 

noncustomary autonomy affect the other two aspects of autonomy the most. This suggests that whereas the 

three aspects of autonomy tend to go together, high levels of all facets of autonomy are more likely to be 

found in a woman who has a high score on the noncustomary autonomy index than if she displays high levels 

of either customary autonomy or realized autonomy. 

The following findings together yield an important policy conclusion: 

Noncustomary autonomy is the one aspect of autonomy that is most consistently related to desired 

demographic outcomes. 

When scores on the noncustomary autonomy index are high, scores on other dimensions of autonomy 

are also most likely to be high. 

Noncustomary autonomy, more than any other aspect of autonomy, is most consistently related to 

modernization influences, especially as embodied in individual characteristics. 

45 
They suggest that even without making difficult and often undesired changes to the kinship structure, 

all aspects of autonomy can be most easily increased by manipulating the modernization variables, variables 

that are, happily, most amenable to policy manipulation. 

46 
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49 

APPENDICES 

Appendix 1 

Appendix 1 Correlation coefficients of variables included m tbeOrderedLogit Regression models of customary autonomy, noncustomary autonomy and realized autonomy 

Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 

Region 

I Urban Gov. 

2 Lower Egypt-R 

3 Upper Egypt-U 

4 Upper Egypt-R 

5 Socioeconomic level 

6 Years of education 

7 Rural childhood 

8 % of life spent here 

9 Hours watching TV 

Employed for cash and: 

I 0 Most earnings for self 

I 1 Most to famdy 

12 Employed not for cash 

13 Husband's education 

-.35 

-.22 -.23 

-33 -34 -21 

49 - 31 12 -.42 

.27 -.19 .09 -.27 .60 

-46 .47 -.30 42 -.56 -.44 

-05 03 - 10 .16 - 13 -.10 01 

11 - 11 09 -.15 .29 .17 .20 -.03 

.10 -.06 .01 -08 .18 28 -.13 -03 .02 - - 

.07 -.05 .05 - 13 22 43 -.19 -.05 .01 -.05 

-.14 .28 -.08 -04 -.17 - 15 19 04 - 10 -.05 -.09 

.23 -.17 .11 -.23 .58 .73 -.38 -.13 .18 .21 .31 16 

Husband's profession 

14Prof.,Manag.,Tech.,Cler. .12 -.10 .07 -.13 .38 .55 -.23 -.09 09 .20 .29 -10 63 

15 Sales & Service .10 -08 07 -.09 .10 -.01 -.10 -.01 .07 -.01 -.00 -04 04 -25 

16 Production 12 -10 04 -.12 06 -09 -14 -.03 06 -.07 -.12 -10 -14 -28 -34 

17 Household size -. 17 19 - 08 

Relatives co-resident 

18 Husband's relatives - 20 .16 -.07 

19 Own relatives 06 -.04 -.01 

11 -.20 -28 .25 .10 -.05 -.09 -.13 .13 -23 -.17 -04 -.05 

17 -23 -16 24 07 -.05 -.05 -10 11 -09 -09 -.06 -.06 

01 03 .04 - 04 05 -.01 .03 .01 - 01 02 01 -.00 .01 

20Age 15 -10 05 -.11 .17 -.06 -.12 

21 Muslim -.06 15 -.03 -09 -.04 .08 

22 Age at marriage .25 -.13 .04 - 26 38 51 

23 Remarried -.02 -.01 .02 .04 .07 -.09 

24 Husband is cousin - 10 -00 -02 .17 - 13 -.14 

25 Number of sons - 08 03 130 .09 -.15 -.28 

.03 02 02 .06 .00 -.09 -.01 07 -08 

.04 02 .04 -04 -02 .04 .05 -.05 01 02 

- 34 - 15 .09 -.19 30 - 12 43 31 03 04 

02 -04 -01 .02 -.02 03 09 -07 .03 -.01 

.14 .03 -.05 -.05 -.07 01 -. 11 -.07 - 02 - 03 

.14 09 -.06 -09 -.09 .06 -.28 -.16 05 -.05 

.01 .09 -.14 -27 .13 10 -.07 -.10 -.07 .10 -.27 -.15 03 -04 

03 -.26 .34 .33 -.29 -07 13 .10 .13 - 11 29 19 .02 .07 

10 -.25 .45 46 -.37 10 19 15 .22 - 14 41 30 .03 .03 

.07 -.30 .36 40 -.26 11 .13 13 .19 04 37 25 .02 01 

26 Number of daughters - 08 05 

27 Customary autonomy .24 - 09 

28 Noncustomary autonomy .28 -.20 

29 Realized autonomy 17 - 02 

53 
Appendix |--cont. 

Variables 17 18 [9 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 

17 Household size - - - 

Relatives co-resident 

18 Husband's relatives 44 

]q Own relatives 05 - Og - - 

20 Age 113 .35 04 

21 Muslim {12 .01 01 04 

22 Age at marriage - 24 - 12 05 l0 .05 

23 Remarried 04 II) 02 [I) 05 - i0 

24 Husband is cousin .09 09 - 01 - 00 - 01 14 03 

25 Number of sons 24 -12 -05 51 02 31 I)2 

26 Number of daughters 21 .13 04 48 01 29 01 

27 Customary autonomy- 17 - 15 02 03 (12 

28 Noncustomary 

autonomy - 25 - 24 04 

29 Realized autonomy 22 15 02 

06 

05 ]~ 

23 -.03 - [(J 15 13 

12 0~ 28 -03 10 II If) ~4 

01 - 05 25 (16 - I)8 - 15 - 14 ~ 4t~ 

54 
Appendix 2 

Necessary Ordered Logit Formulae 

The following discussion has been adapted from Greene's f1993, Chapter 21.7.2) discussion of 

ordered data. 

Calculation of Probabilities 

Using the [3's and la estimated from the ordered logit regression for a given autonomy index, the 

probability of being in the low, medium or high category of the index can be evaluated such that 

Prob(y = low) A (-~/X) 

Prob(y = medium) = A (~ - [~/X) - A (-p/X ) 

Prob(y = high) : 1 - A (1~ - [J/X) 

where A is the cumulative density function of the logistic distribution given by: 

A (~'X) = #'x 

1 + e p'x 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

These probabilities will necessarily add to 1. 

Conversion of Coefficients into Probability Changes 

A. For continuous variables 

The effect of a marginal change in a continuous regressor i on the probability of being in each of the 

three categories of the dependent variable is given by: 

Prob~ = O) = -K(O/X')~,, (5) 

BX 

6 Prob(y = 1) 

6x : (K(-P/X) ~(~ 13/X))P" (6) 

55 
8 Prob(y = 2) 

8X = K(I~ 13 ~X) 13~, (7) 

where 

K -- dA[VX] -- e~'X-- (8) 

d(~ IX) (1 + eft/x) 2 

Note: The sum of the marginal effects of a given regressor on the probabilities of being in the three 

categories must add to O. For each calculation the values of the other regressors are held at their 

means. 

B. For dummy variables 

The effect of a dummy variable is calculated by estimating the probability of being in each category 

of the dependent variable using equations 1-3, at the two values of the dummy variable (0 and 1 ). The 

absolute difference in probability for each category is due to the dummy taking the value 1 instead of O. These 

differences must add to 0. The percent difference in probability is then calculated as the change in probability 

divided by the probability when the dummy value is 0. The percent difference need not add to 0. 

56