Description

For countries with low contraceptive prevalence, FERTPREF (V602) reports responses to the question, "Would you like to have a (another) child or would you prefer not to have any (more) children"? The standard response categories are "have another," "no more/none," "says she can't get pregnant," and "undecided or don't know."

In Phase I, FERTPREF (V602), was constructed from two questions in countries with high contraceptive prevalence (Model "A" questionnaires). Women who responded that they want another child, but when asked when they would like the next child, respond that they cannot get pregnant, are classified in the "declared infecund category," and not in the "Wants another" category.

Some samples also include the response "up to God." More detailed responses under the general category "says she can't get pregnant" are sometimes available. In IPUMS-DHS, all responses in the general category of "not at risk of pregnancy" share a common first digit of 5, while the second digit distinguishes between the specific reasons. In some countries, women who never had sexual intercourse (coded as "53" in IPUMS-DHS) were not asked the questions relating to their desire for future children.

When children are chosen as the unit of analysis, the woman respondent indicates the mother of the child.

Comparability

In addition to universe and question wording differences, categories for responses changed over time and across samples. See the "Comparability - Standard DHS" section below for an explanation of temporal changes.

Along with standard DHS changes, some samples also include the response "up to God."

Comparability - Standard DHS

FERTPREF (V602) is included in the standard DHS questionnaire for Phase I forward. For Phase II forward, the category of "Sterilized " was possible. In Phases IV and V, the "undecided/don't know" response category split into two separate responses to include pregnancy status:

• Undecided/don't know and pregnant
• Undecided/don't know and not pregnant or unsure

Though the above responses were provided in the survey text, DHS coded both response categories as "Undecided." From Phase VI forward, the "undecided/don't know" response category was restored, and responses including pregnancy status were removed from the standard questionnaire.

Universe