Fertility intentions over time

The study employed descriptive survey research design using both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques. While quantitative data were collected from 760 respondents, seven FGDs and 15 IDIs were conducted to complement questionnaire data. Fertility preferences and outcomes were positively correlated (r =0.544, P<.001) regardless of the social milieu. A tendency for reversal to dominant fertility preference at place of origin on return was associated with high premium placed on children, stigma ascribed to few children and infertility and male-child preference. Policy and national programmes that seek reduction in fertility and its concomitant effects should target the generality of the people given that fertility preferences and outcomes were not significantly different between migrants and non-migrants. Without a deliberate intervention, family size preference among women will remain high as a reflection of pronatalism and patriarchal ethos that pervade Benin City.

In developing countries like India, the issue of unintended pregnancy in the context of use of contraception has not been explored till date. This study takes advantage of calendar data, which is first time available in Indian National Family Health Survey (2005-06), to deal with type and time to initiate contraceptive after having unwanted pregnancy. Analysis revealed that, among the group of women who have experience mistimed pregnancy, more than 25 percent using modern spacing method, specially condom followed by pill. Sterilization used by women who have reported their last birth was unwanted. Surprisingly user of traditional contraceptive method like periodic abstinence and withdrawal was also used by women who have experience unintended pregnancy. More than two third women who have adopted contraceptive method just after birth to within six months, majority of them experience mistimed birth. Initiation of contraceptive within 6-18 months was mainly those women, who have experience unwanted pregnancy.

In much of sub-Saharan Africa, birth rates are high and individual circumstances are unstable. Given these conditions, some demographers argue that women have difficulty forming long-term fertility plans and thus challenge the utility of reported desires to stop childbearing. But despite these challenges, intentions to stop childbearing have predictive power. We propose that a better assessment of both the empirical and theoretical relevance of fertility intentions requires understanding how intentions change in response to individual circumstances. This paper uses three waves of survey data collected in rural southern Mozambique to study stability and change in the desire to stop childbearing. We apply fixed-effects models to assess the degree to which changes in fertility intentions are shaped by changes in demographic factors, household economic conditions, and health status, controlling for stable individual characteristics. Results suggest that measures of fertility intentions are meaningful, even in unstable high-fertility contexts, and provide further support for the “moving target” model of intentions that has been proposed for low-fertility settings.

Both demographic transition theory and evolutionary life history theory propose that fertility responds to changes in mortality. This relationship exists at population level, and may be mediated by psychological mechanisms causing individuals to lower fertility as mortality rates fall. Controlled experiments have found that individuals faced with cues of high mortality express increased/accelerated fertility preferences, and reduced support for birth control policies. UK research shows that socioeconomically deprived people are both less likely to terminate pregnancies and are less accepting of abortion than wealthier people. Health disparities may mean that perceptions of increased mortality and morbidity for poorer people might decrease motivation to terminate pregnancy when young. A randomised controlled online experiment here tests if mortality cues influence abortion attitudes. We predict that:
1) Mortality salience cues will a) decrease reported approval of abortion b) increase reported motivation to have children sooner.
2) Longevity cues will a) increase reported approval of abortion b) decrease reported motivation to have children sooner.
A sample of 256 individuals from England and Wales, aged 18-25, 50% men, 50% women will complete online questionnaires, and data will be analysed using GLM and MANOVA techniques.

Despite theoretical reasons to expect a positive association between women’s individual level autonomy and fertility, previous research has yielded largely negative results. In this literature dimensions of autonomy such as freedom of movement and association, power over economic decision making and freedom from domestic abuse are often operationalized using discrete survey questions or additive indexes. Such operationalizations have two principle drawbacks. First, the dimensionality assumed is a priori and untested. Second, the use of indexes assumes that each measure has an equal impact on its underlying latent dimension. This paper uses latent class measurement models with data from the 2004 Cameroon DHS to test the dimensionality of autonomy (whether, for example economic decision making and participation of association are actually separate dimensions or are part of a more general dimension of autonomy), as well as the relative impact of specific measures on the underlying latent dimensions of autonomy identified.

Unmet need for family planning (FP) is commonly used as an indicator of gaps in FP services. The measure of unmet need relies on women’s reported fertility desires; previous research has demonstrated that fertility desires may be fluid and not firm. Our study uses recently collected longitudinal data from four cities in urban Uttar Pradesh India to examine whether women’s fertility desires and contraceptive practices at baseline predict pregnancy/birth experience in the two-year follow-up period. We demonstrate that those women who at baseline reported a desire to stop childbearing or a desire to delay childbearing 2+ years and were using any method of FP were the least likely to have experienced a pregnancy/birth by two-year follow-up. Women who were non-users and wanted to delay or limit at baseline were significantly more likely to have had a pregnancy/birth in the two-year follow-up. Ninety percent of pregnancies/births over the follow-up period are considered “wanted then” suggesting post-hoc rationalization of pregnancies/births even among those women who reported a desire to delay or stop childbearing two years earlier. Non-users may be ambivalent about future childbearing and the timing of future births; these women may not have an unmet need for FP as typically defined.

People's fertility intentions are related to the high sex ratio at birth (SRB) in countries and regions where son-preference is the norm. The male-biased SRB in China has had some important social consequences, such as the lack of females and the male marriage squeeze, which are likely to have serious repercussions for China's social and public safety. In order to solve the problem of gender imbalance, the Chinese government implemented a series of policies to intervene in people's fertility intentions. The objective is that by changing people's son-preference, the sex ratio at birth will be reduced, and ultimately China will achieve the goal of gender equality. This article mainly concerns empirical research on intervention in people's fertility intentions by the Chinese government, which has been carried out at the county level. By adopting a multi-method approach, this paper examines the relationship between gender imbalance governance factors and people's fertility intentions at the county level in Shaanxi province. We explore how the governance at the county level affects people's fertility intentions in China.

This mix study aims to examine the average preferred family size (fertility preference) and intention and their gap among newly married men and women in Tehran. The distributional characteristics of preference and intension for one child and their correlates are also assessed. It was conducted in 2012 and comprised of three phases. A representative sample of the survey (second phase) was examined. Nearly, 871 about to marry men and women, attended to premarital compulsory courses in 8 health centers in different geographical areas of Tehran were assessed using self-administered anonymous questionnaire. Data were cleaned and analyzed using SPSS –V18.
Mean age of the sample was 26.9 (SD=4.3). Mean ideal number of children reported by men was 1.70 (SD=0.97) and by women was 1.72 (SD=0.715). Mean number of intended children among men was 1.64(SD=1.06) and among women was 1.60(SD=0.7). Multivariate analysis showed predictors of intention for single child and its differences by gender. This study have important implications for population policies in Iran.

This study examines three aspects of men’s reproduction – reproductive attitudes, fertility intentions, and fertility outcomes. We seek to contribute to research that so far mainly addressed low levels of fertility by focusing on women’s employment and delayed childbearing. Sweden provides a unique context because of its explicit policies aimed at promoting gender equality in both work and family realms. We will seek to address the role of career goals, leisure goals, and gender role attitudes on Swedish men’s fertility intentions and behavior. We use longitudinal data from the Swedish Young Adult Panel Study (YAPS). Our results indicate that young Swedish men think sufficient income, suitable housing, and a good partner are important in planning for children. Yet these preconditions, except for having a suitable partner, are seen to be fulfilled for only a minority of men. These perceived economic conditions have an impact of fertility intentions as those with sufficient income and suitable housing are less likely to intend to delay having children than their less well-off counterparts. Next we will examine the impact of these factors on fertility outcomes, and also address the role of career and leisure goals explicitly.

Fertility intentions are strong predictors of eventual fertility, yet little is known about the fertility desires of HIV-infected persons in sub-Saharan Africa. Given the recent and rapid expansion of access to antiretroviral therapy (ART), understanding the fertility intentions, and consequent reproductive health services needs, of men and women living with HIV/AIDS is critical. Emerging evidence on the effect of HIV/AIDS/ART on fertility intentions is mixed with little or no explicit theoretical understanding. This study investigates fertility intentions of PLWHA using mixed methods population-based data collected 2010-11, comprising survey (n=513) and in-depth (n=41) qualitative interviews of PLWHA in Nairobi slums. We show that fertility intentions of PLWHA are fraught with ambivalence and ambiguity due to conflicts between social pressures for biological parenthood and moral pressures to avoid co-infection and future child orphanhood. The implications for reproductive health service provision are explored using in-depth interviews (n=14) with service providers.