Girls' schooling and transition to marriage and motherhood: exploring the pathways to young women's reproductive agency in Pakistan

Abstract

Enhanced young women's reproductive agency could contribute to much-needed improvements in reproductive and child health in Pakistan. The RECOUP programme of research was designed to unpack the channels through which schooling might contribute to such an enhancement for young mothers in the two provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Key decisions concerning marriage and motherhood involve not only the woman's own cultural and social capital but also societal, cultural, religious and familial contexts, which together limit a woman's agency. Although data from the quantitative surveys suggest very strong positive influences of schooling of young women on increasing their say in key decisions, these data must be interpreted cautiously. Irrespective of their schooling levels, women exercise varying degrees of agency within an allowed set of options defined by their parents, husband and in-laws. Supportive social networks and changes in attitudes of her own family, her in-laws and her husband are necessary in order to expand the boundaries of this set and thus for schooling to make a major impact on these aspects of young women's lives in Pakistan.