Abstract
This chapter presents findings on the influence of cultural practices such as foot-binding and marriage patterns on fertility decline. Data are examined on fertility marriage patterns and work force activity among Hakka and Hokkien women living in several villages on opposite sides of a railway in Northern Taiwan during 1905-45 and 1946-85. Fertility is only affected by work when women control what they earn and what they produce. Even though Hakka women did not bind their feet at the turn of the century and thereafter and worked along side of men in the paddy fields fertility did not differ from Hokkien women who had bound feet and worked only inside the home. Work outside the home and higher educational levels were unrelated to lower fertility. Studies by Hill Gates show that a wifes contribution of capital to the family in the form of dowry or other resources is associated with lower fertility.
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