ERIC Number: ED222401
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1982-Apr
Pages: 49
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Family Size Preferences: Evidence from the World Fertility Surveys. Reports on the World Fertility Survey No. 4.
Kent, Mary Mederios; Larson, Ann
This fourth report from the World Fertility Survey examines family size preferences in 23 developing countries in which current levels of fertility have contributed to rapid population increases. Data were collected from approximately 5,000 women in countries in Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and in one African country. All ever-married women were asked to name their ideal family size and currently married fecund women were also asked whether they wanted to have another child. Preferred family size is high when compared to industrial nations and higher among women with background characteristics associated with higher actual fertility and who were less educated and rural. Also, ethnic and religious group affiliation had some effect on the size of the family desired. Knowledge of contraceptives was slightly higher among women who wanted no more children and lower among women who were undecided about future childbearing. Finally, the difference in contraceptive use by educational level and urban/rural residence was small among women who wanted no more children, indicating that the desire for no more children provides motivation for fertility control. (KC)
Descriptors: Birth, Children, Contraception, Developing Nations, Family Attitudes, Family Planning, Mother Attitudes, Population Trends, Social Science Research
Population Reference Bureau, Inc., Circulation Department, 1337 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20036 (free but $1.00 handling and postage charge).
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Agency for International Development (Dept. of State), Washington, DC. Office of Population.
Authoring Institution: Population Reference Bureau, Inc., Washington, DC.
Identifiers - Location: Africa; Asia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A