CHDESIRE_ALL variables are 1-digit variables.

1 = Then
2 = Later
3 = No more
7 = Don't know
8 = Missing
9 = NIU (not in universe)

Description

For women who gave birth in the last three to five years, CHDESIRE_ALL (M10_x) indicates whether the child was wanted at the time of pregnancy, was wanted but later, or was not wanted at all.

CHDESIRE_ALL consists of a set of up to six separate variables, covering the most recent birth (CHDESIRE_01) up to, potentially, the sixth-most-recent birth (i.e., CHDESIRE_02, CHDESIRE_03, CHDESIRE_04, CHDESIRE_05, and CHDESIRE_06) during the reference period prior to the survey. If CHDESIRE_ALL is included in a data extract, all these separate variables are included in a researcher's data file.

This information was collected for all births within the reference period preceding the survey. In many cases, data were hypothetically collected on up to six births, but no women in the survey had so many births (e.g., no woman had 4 or more births in 3 years, or had 5 or 6 births in 5 years). If, for example, no woman in a survey had 6 births in five years and only blank values were included in the original DHS file, then CHDESIRE_06 would not be available for that survey in IPUMS-DHS.

Comparability

Apart from universe differences and slight variation in question wording, CHDESIRE_ALL (M10_x) is comparable across samples.

Comparability - Standard DHS

CHDESIRE_ALL (M10_x) is included in the standard DHS questionnaire for Phase II forward. In Phase I, the question wording for this variable is, "At the time you became pregnant with (NAME), did you want to become pregnant then, did you want to wait until later, or did you want no (more) children at all?"

In Phase V, the inquiry changes to two questions. First, interviewers asked, "When you got pregnant with (NAME), did you want to get pregnant at that time?" Mothers who reported not wanting to be pregnant at that time were asked a follow-up question: "Did you want to have a baby later on, or did you not want any (more) children?"

Universe