Family dynamics and fertility: the role of men

Evidence from various studies has shown that the persistently high population growth in Sub-Saharan Africa countries in general and Nigeria in particular has been as a result of preference for large family size and marginal use of contraceptives by women. This study examined the inter-relationships between female reproductive behaviour, spousal communication and family size as well as the interplay of factors affecting them.
Eight- Hundred respondents were interviewed using multi-stage sampling procedure. Analysis of the data collected was done at three levels. The results of our findings confirmed the hypothesis that spousal communication on reproductive issues will exert a strong influence on fertility outcomes and contraceptive use. Results show that generally among the Yorubas, while knowledge of contraceptive is high, usage is still relatively low. As high as 70 percent of males and 62 percent of female respondents claimed knowledge of at least one contraceptive method, but the proportion of males and females using any of these methods was low (38.5 percent and 31.3 percent respectively). The study shows that contraceptive prevalence rate among males is higher than that of females. The study recommends that men and women should be focused in reproductive matters by increasing their knowledge.

This paper aims at analyzing communication pattern regarding decision-making process and men’s engagement in women’s reproductive health. The paper utilizes mixed method approach: quantitative data from NFHS-3 (2005-06) and qualitative data from women and men (20 each) collected from two villages of the Gautam Buddha Nagar District, Uttar Pradesh in 2011. Multinomial and logistic regression techniques are applied to analyze quantitative data in order to assess level of agreement between spouses regarding their reproductive behavior; however, the pattern of effective communication is understood by analyzing interviews. Findings from quantitative analysis suggest that urban couples have more agreement and less desire to have additional child. While qualitative analysis reveals that lack of inter-spousal communication is a consequence of individual and collective factors. Older rural couples are hesitant to discuss issues regarding reproductive behavior. Moreover, the young rural couples who are influenced by urbanization have greater agreement for contraceptive use and are less hesitant to discuss their desires on the family size. Hence communication pattern is influenced by urbanization and changes in individual’s perceptions that have a bearing on cultural norms and acceptable behavior of men and women in a society.

The fertility of migrants has been analyzed and explained through different hypotheses: disruption, adaptation, assimilation/acculturation, selectivity and socialization. Despite the fact that these hypotheses often refer to fertility preferences as an important fertility determinant, little is known about the relationship between migration and the fertility preferences. The objective of this research is to investigate changes in fertility preferences throughout the life course to distinguish between the effects of international migration and the effects of other factors (culture, social norms, family values) on the decision to have one or more children. Among other questions, this project attempts to answer in what ways do migrants negotiate their reproductive preferences with those of their partners? To carry out this research project, qualitative data concerning migration experience, fertility preferences as well as household decision-making will be collected through focus groups and in-depth interviews. The fieldwork has been carried out in a rural community located in central Veracruz. In addition, quantitative demographic data has been gathered from la Encuesta Nacional sobre los Niveles de Vida de los Hogares(ENViH). These data is being used to calculate and display basic descriptive statistics.

This study describes how the impact of earnings on transition to parenthood changes in the period 1994-2009 in Norway. By comparing changes the earnings-fertility relationship across gender, I cast light on whether the mechanisms linking earnings and the transition to parenthood have become gender neutral over time. Discrete-time hazard regressions are estimated on highly accurate data from the Norwegian population registers, covering all men and women at risk of having a registered first birth in the period 1994-2009. Results show a monotonously positive and substantial impact of annual earnings on first birth rate for men throughout the period. The impact of earnings on the transition to parenthood strengthens over time for both men and women, but more so for women. At the end of the period of study, the earnings-first birth relationship is similar across gender. The results show that despite generous welfare schemes and fairly stable economic conditions, earnings have become increasingly important for the transition to parenthood. The similarity across gender indicates that the mechanisms linking earnings and fertility in Norway have become gender neutral.

Past family planning programs in India have been mainly directed toward women. However, because north eastern states remains a patriarchal society characterised by early age at marriage for women, men at present continue to determine familial fertility and contraceptive decisions. Consequently, the willingness of husbands to adopt or allow their spouses to use family planning practices will determine the pace of fertility reduction in north east states. Data from the third National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) conducted in 2005-06 collected information from a nationally representative sample of 124,385 women age 15-49 and 74,369 men age 15-54 in 109,041 households provides key indicators of contraceptive prevalence, on currently married males (couples) in the age group 15 to 54, along with many other characteristics. Bivariate and multivariate statistical methods are used for analysing the cross linkage between the dependent and independent variables. The results suggest that there is high knowledge of contraceptives, a generally negative attitude towards limiting family size for economic reasons, and consequently low rates of contraceptive use. The trend in North-East states of India shows that the use of temporary method is more popular than sterilisation.

In countries which are at the late stages of demographic transition, couples tend to have smaller number of children than they desire. However, the converse is true in countries which are still struggling to complete their demographic transition. In the latter group, couples tend to have more children than they actually want. According to the National Family Health Survey, 2005-06 (NFHS-3), in India the total wanted fertility rate—a measure of desired fertility—was 1.9 per woman compared with the observed total fertility rate of 2.7 per woman, showing a gap of 42%. However, there is a great geographic diversity in India as far as the state of demographic transition is concerned. As Dyson and Moore (1983) posit, there are “two demographic regimes” in India with the north characterized by high fertility and the south by low fertility. This north-south divide is also apparent in the case of desired or wanted fertility. In 2005-06, the wanted fertility rate in northern states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar was above the replacement level, which exceeded the actual fertility rate by about 65%. In contrast, in southern states such as Kerala and Andhra Pradesh the level of wanted fertility was much lower and it exceeded the actual fertility by less than 20%. Although over the past two decades, both actual and wanted fertil

We examine differences in fertility desires between men and women in Kwale and Bungoma, Kenya, and explore the role of men and women in realizing these desires. Using qualitative data, we examine these roles in the context of geo-cultural values as perceived through Bukusu and Christian value systems (Bungoma) and Digo and Muslim value systems (Kwale). Further, we look at the position of women within these value systems and examine its impact on fertility desires and pathway to realizing ideal fertility.
Women in Kwale enjoy higher levels of freedom than women in Bungoma. This is due to the difference in gender/ marriage systems. In both areas, the prominence of polygyny creates competition and encourages desire for high fertility. There are differences in fertility outcomes - women in Bungoma have more children than those in Kwale. There is discordance in fertility desires between men and women in both areas.

The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions towards fist pregnancy and contraceptive use among married couples. Information was collected in 2011 from currently married women aged 15-34 years and their husbands. A total of 964 women and 497 men were interviewed. Mean age of women was 25 years and 39% had started cohabitating before their 15th birthday. 73% were non-literate, 38% were exposed to any mass media and mean number of children ever born was 3.3. About four-year difference in education was found between men and women, with men having completed an average of 6.6 years and women 2.9 years of schooling.

Unmet need for first pregnancy was high (56%) as their family members wanted fist child to be soon after marriage (husband 15% and mother-in-law (34%). Only one-third of men discussed about family planning with their wives before first pregnancy. Logistic regression reveals that women were significantly less likely to have first child after marriage (odds ratio-0.825) than men. Findings reveal that perception towards first pregnancy was strongly drives by men. In order to enhance family planning use as well as bringing down the unmet need for fist pregnancy, inter-spousal communication may be promoted as strategically.

Background: Men's support is key in improving the uptake of their partners’ sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, hence contributing to efforts aimed at achieving Millennium Development Goals 4, 5 and 6. The study’s objective was to explore men’s perceptions on and uptake of SRH services in Kenya.
Methods: Data were derived from qualitative interviews conducted with 60 men from communities neighboring facilities that were part of a larger study that assessed the relative benefits of different models of integrated SRH/HIV service provision over separately provided services. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, translated and analyzed thematically.
Findings: Generally, men felt comfortable seeking SRH services together with their partners. Most services sought together were HIV counseling/ testing and family planning services. Other services, but minimally were HIV care/treatment, antenatal, postnatal, sexually transmitted infections screening/treatment, and condoms provision. Waiting times and service scheduling at facility were some of the barriers that hindered men’s uptake of services.
Conclusions: Study demonstrates that men are receptive to seeking services together with their partners. However, existing barriers need to be addressed in order to increase men’s uptake of SRH services.

Most of the demographic researches on fertility, reproductive health and contraception focus on females of particular age group especially who are in their reproductive period. Important demographic indicators like fertility, contraception and mortality etc. are estimated on the basis of reporting of the eligible female respondent. But how reliable is the reporting of the wife regarding estimating such demographic parameters? Recently the focus of demographic and health surveys has shifted from being woman centric to couple centric where the couple is taken as a sing unit. The available literature on the subject is also scanty. Hence, this particular study makes an attempt in exploring the matching and mismatch among couples in reporting of the ideal family size. The present study analyses the couples information by using a nationally representative sample size of the third round of National Family Health Survey(NFHS-3, 2005-06). Information regarding ideal family size is collected both from the husband as well as wife separately. In India the mismatch between the husband and the wife in reporting of ideal family size is almost 43 percent.