Demographic and Health Survey 2009-10 - Timor-Leste Ministry of ...

92 | Fertility Preferences
Table 7.1 Fertility preferences by number of living children
Percent distribution of currently married women and currently married men age 15-49 by desire for children,
according to number of living children, Timor-Leste 2009-10
Desire for children
Number of living children Total
0 1 2 3 4 5 6+ 15-49
WOMEN 1
Have another soon 2 27.7 15.7 10.9 11.5 6.9 4.7 2.0 8.6
Have another later 3 4.3 60.0 54.8 47.1 35.9 26.6 12.7 35.1
Have another,
undecided when 2.1 2.2 1.7 1.1 0.6 1.1 0.7 1.2
Undecided 21.9 14.7 17.7 17.4 15.8 17.3 16.8 16.9
Want no more 2.2 5.4 13.2 21.0 38.9 48.4 65.4 34.8
Sterilized 4 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.7 0.9 0.9 1.4 0.8
Declared infecund 41.7 1.8 1.4 1.3 0.9 1.1 0.9 2.8
Missing 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 303 942 1,159 1,277 1,227 977 2,022 7,906
MEN 5
Have another soon 2 44.9 19.6 16.9 14.9 14.5 8.3 8.1 14.7
Have another later 3 6.5 53.6 50.1 47.3 39.9 33.8 22.6 38.7
Have another,
undecided when 2.8 2.8 3.9 2.5 1.0 0.4 1.4 2.0
Undecided 17.4 15.8 16.5 17.3 21.9 24.0 25.6 20.3
Want no more 0.7 7.3 11.5 16.5 20.6 31.9 40.7 21.8
Sterilized 4 0.0 0.9 1.1 1.0 1.2 0.4 1.7 1.1
Declared infecund 27.7 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.9 1.1 0.0 1.5
Missing 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Number 87 270 343 381 346 253 479 2,158
1 The number of living children includes current pregnancy for women.
2 Wants next birth within 2 years
3 Wants to delay next birth for 2 or more years
4 Includes both female and male sterilization
5 The number of living children includes one additional child if respondent's wife is pregnant (or if any wife is
pregnant for men with more than one current wife).
7.2 DESIRE TO LIMIT CHILDBEARING BY BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS
Tables 7.2.1 and 7.2.2 show the desire to limit childbearing among currently married women
and men by background characteristics. Urban women are more likely to want to limit childbearing
than rural women. Differences by district in the desire to limit childbearing range from a low of 20
percent in Ainaro to a high of 48 percent in Oecussi. Overall, the desire to limit childbearing is higher
among women with no education than among those with any level of education. This is true even
taking into account the difference in fertility among women with different levels of education. For
example, among women with one child, 16 percent of women with no education want no more
children compared with 4 percent or less of women with some education. Among women with four or
more children, the difference in desire to limit childbearing by education is small. Women living in
the wealthiest households are more likely to want to limit childbearing than women in other
households.
A similar pattern is seen among men in the desire to limit childbearing by urban-rural
residence, education, and wealth quintile, although the differences are smaller. The pattern by district
differs somewhat, with men in Lautem and Ainaro least likely to want to limit the number of children
and men in Covalima and Manatuto most likely. Given that men in Covalima and Manatuto had the
greatest exposure to family planning messages, there appears to be an association between exposure to
family planning messages and men’s desire to limit the number of children.