Fertility differentials among the four hamlets

Data on number of children ever bom were also collected. Table 5.18 shows mean number of children ever bom for all Karen women aged 15-49 for the four hamlets. Mean number of children ever bom was standardised using all Karen women aged 15- 49 in the Buddhist hamlet in Chiang Mai as a standard population.

Table 5.18: Mean number children ever born of Karen women aged 15-49 years, ________ by the four selected hamlets, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son________

Age group

Chiang Mai Mae Hong Son

Buddhist Catholic Buddhist Catholic

15-19 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.3 20-24 1.0 0.9 1.0 1.0 25-29 2.0 1.9 2.6 2.2 30-34 4.3 3.0 * 5.0 35-39 5.2 3.3 4.5 6.5 40-44 4.7 5.0 * 5.0 45-49 7.0 3.4 5.0 6.7 Mean CEB 3.5 1.8 2.0 2.4

Mean CEB (Stand.) 3.5 2.6 1.9 4.0

Notes: *=There is no woman in that age group.

Using women in the Buddhist hamlet in Chiang Mai as the standard population.

The results show that the patterns of fertility in the four hamlets were quite different. The highest level was in the Catholic hamlet in Mae Hong Son, and the lowest in the Buddhist hamlet in that province. The inhabitants of the Buddhist hamlet in Chiang Mai had higher socioeconomic status than those any of the other hamlets, as manifested by occupation and education, and had most contact with Thai people, but they had quite high fertility. The health provider in the Catholic hamlet in Chiang Mai played an important role in persuasion of the Karen in his hamlet to use family planning services. This, coupled with the economic hardship in this hamlet, resulted in many Karen in this hamlet practicing contraception. Both male and female sterilisation were widely used methods in this hamlet.

The role of the Catholic priest in the Catholic hamlet in Mae Hong Son probably led to the highest fertility among the four hamlets being found here. The roles of the Catholic priests in the two hamlets in Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son were clearly different. None of the participants in the Catholic hamlet in Chiang Mai had heard about any Catholic teaching promoting a large family norm, nor were they aware of the prohibition on using modem contraception. I met the Catholic priest who came to the hamlet to remove an old wooden house to extend a school building in town. He said that

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he did not want to have a conflict with the Thai government over the family planning issue. His work was concentrated on education. Scholarships were given to the Karen who had a good record of study, regardless of religion, to continue their study beyond primary level in town.

In marked contrast, in the Catholic hamlet in Mae Hong Son, the Karen understood the Catholic doctrine to promote high fertility and to reject modem contraception. It emerges from this hamlet that the main teachings of the Catholic priest relating to fertility were that couples should have at least four children, not get married before age 17, and avoid using modem contraception because it may be harmful to health. The Catholic priest put the question to them that if they had only two children, and they died, what would happen to their lives? (Children were the most important security source for their old age). If they married before age 17 the priest would not attend the wedding ceremony.

However, due to the strong Thai family planning program and Karen economic hardship, some Karen in this hamlet were using contraception, and members of the younger generation wanted no more than two children. The male focus group participants agreed among themselves that they wanted to practice contraception, and they did not follow the Catholic prohibition of using modem contraception because the Catholic priest never helped them to feed their children.

An interesting finding is that normally in the Christian hamlets, both Catholic and Protestant, there were organised youth groups. The information about Protestant Karen came from my male interpreter who was a Protestant. Most of the members in the youth groups were not yet married. They were informed about many issues such as prostitution, contraception, AIDS, and the difficulties of working in town. My own impression was that they were trained to be proud of their ethnicity, and this was one of the main objectives in setting up the youth group. I also found that the Karen language was taught in the Catholic hamlet in Mae Hong Son. I could easily detect this difference in Karen identity among the inhabitants of this Catholic hamlet compared with the other

study hamlets. All these influences may lead to a high level of fertility among the Karen Christians.

There was no youth group in the Catholic hamlet in Chiang Mai. I was told that there used to be, but the youth group collapsed, probably because most Karen in this hamlet were married very young, and the single teenagers migrated to work in Bangkok and Chiang Mai city. It would also be education taking the young men away since it was this hamlet where the priest provided scholarships for young men to continue their study.

There was no difference in the roles of the religious leaders in the Buddhist hamlets in Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son. The fertility in the Buddhist hamlet in Chiang Mai was the second highest of the four since one of the reasons for unwillingness to have children which emerged from the fieldwork was economic hardship. In a hamlet not under this pressure, relatively high fertility would be expected.

It can be concluded that at a micro level, the reasons for fertility differentials between hamlets are clear.

5.3 Findings from the fieldwork as applied to the Census of Hill Tribe