Bangladesh 1993-1994 Demographic and Health ... - Measure DHS

The data indicate that when husbands and wives report that their spouses approve of family planning,they are generally accurate. For example, in 95 percent of cases in which wives reported that their husbandsapproved of family planning, the husbands also said they approved. Similarly, in 97 percent of the couplesin which the husband said his wife approved of family planning, she also said she approved. However, whenhusbands and wives report that their spouses disapprove of family planning, in 70 to 80 percent of cases, theopposite is true, that is, the spouse actually approves of family planning. Caution should be used in drawinga conclusion from these data that there is a considerable lack of communication between spouses aboutattitudes towards family planning. It is likely that at least some respondents report more favorable attitudestowards family planning than they in fact hold, perhaps in an attempt to please the interviewer or to appearmore sophisticated.9.4 Fertility PreferencesHusbands who were interviewed in the 1993-94 BDHS were asked the same questions about fertilitypreferences that were asked of women. Table 9.8 shows the percent distribution of husbands by whether theywould like to have another child and when, according to age group. The data are similar to those reportedfor currently married women in general (see Table 6.2). For example, the proportion who want no morechildren is very close to that of married women (51 vs. 48 percent, respectively) as are the proportions whowant to have another child some time (33 vs. 37 percent, respectively). As with women, younger husbandsare more likely to want another child, while older husbands are more likely to want no more children or tobe sterilized.Table 9.8 Fertility preferences of husbands by agePercent distxibution of husbands by desire for more children, according to age, Bangladesh 1993-94Current ageDesire forchildren 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60+ TotalHave another within 2 years 29.5 24.5 17.4 10.5 4.5 6.4 2.1 2.3 2.0 12.0Have another after 2 years 54.4 43.2 26.2 13.8 6.3 2.7 0.3 0.2 0.0 17.8Have another/undecided when 4.4 3.6 6.2 3.5 3.4 2.0 0.7 0.0 0.6 3.3Undecided/Don't know 0.6 4.1 3.1 2.9 3.2 1.9 3.8 2.2 1.2 2.9Want no more 11.1 23.3 40.7 59.9 66.9 64.3 66.2 62.9 65.5 50.5Sterilized 0.0 1.1 6.5 9.1 14.8 18.8 17.7 18.7 20.0 10.6Wife declared infecund 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.8 3.6 9.1 13.7 10.7 2.9Missing 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 I00.0 100.0 100.0Number 165 463 648 564 405 329 278 240 173 3284Note: There were too few husbands age 15-19 to show the data.It is also possible to compare the fertility preferences of husbands and wives. Table 9.9 shows thepercent distribution of couples by desire for more children, according to the number of living children eachpanner has. Overall, there is a high degree of agreement between spouses. For example, in 26 percent of thecouples, both spouses want more children, while in 41 percent, both want no more children (Figure 9.1 ). Theproportion of couples in which the husband wants more children and the wife does not (6 percent) is the sameas the proportion in which the wife wants more and the husband does not (6 percent). In 21 percent of thecouples, one or both of the spouses is undecided about whether they want to have more children.126