FERTILITY INTENTIONS: ARE THE UNDECIDED MORE LIKE THOSE WHO WANT MORE OR WANT NO MORE CHILDREN?

In fertility surveys often women (and sometimes men) are asked their fertility desires, i.e. whether they want a/nother birth or not. Some respond that they are undecided. This study examines whether these persons are more like those who say they want more births or like those who say they want no m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of biosocial science 2007-01, Vol.39 (1), p.137-145
Main Authors: BECKER, STAN, SUTRADHAR, SANTOSH C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa South of the Sahara
Area studies
Attitude to Health - ethnology
Biological and medical sciences
Birth
Birth Rate - trends
Children
Comparative analysis
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Demographics
Demography
Family Characteristics
Family Life
Family planning
Family Planning Services
Family studies
Female
Fertility
General aspects
Humans
Intention
Latin America
Male
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous
Pregnancy
Public health
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Regular Articles
Science and technology
Sexes
Sexual Behavior
Statistical analysis
Survey analysis
Surveys
Uncertainty
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Summary:In fertility surveys often women (and sometimes men) are asked their fertility desires, i.e. whether they want a/nother birth or not. Some respond that they are undecided. This study examines whether these persons are more like those who say they want more births or like those who say they want no more births. Data on married men and women in 29 Demographic and Health Surveys with sample sizes ranging from 300 to 3000 are used. A logistic regression equation is estimated within each country for those with known desires and then used to classify each person who was undecided. In all sub-Saharan African countries (n=20) and for both sexes, 50% or more of the undecided persons are classified as wanting more children (with one exception of wives in Kenya). By contrast in all five Latin American countries for both sexes less than 50% of the undecided were classified in the ‘want more’ group (with an exception of husbands in the Dominican Republic). Generally, the undecided tend to be classified the same as the majority among those in the survey with stated desires.
ISSN:0021-9320
1469-7599
DOI:10.1017/S0021932006001283