Volume 46 - Article 17 | Pages 503–546  

Accuracy of wives' proxy reports of husbands' fertility preferences in sub-Saharan Africa

By Dana Sarnak, Stan Becker

Abstract

Background: Demographic researchers have recognized the importance of male partners in reproductive behavior and decision-making. Yet much of the existing literature still relies on female respondents reporting on behalf of their spouses.

Objective: The objective of this study is to estimate the accuracy of wives’ reports of husbands’ fertility preferences in 32 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: We used couple-level data from Demographic and Health Surveys to evaluate the accuracy of wives’ reports of their husbands’ fertility preferences in 32 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We created a measure of accuracy based on each partner’s response to a set of fertility preference questions. We examined the overall percentages of wives who were accurate, inaccurate, or uncertain across countries.

Results: Despite the fact that most couples were concordant in wanting more children, we found variation in the percentages of wives who were accurate in their proxy reports, ranging from 26% in Chad to 58% in Rwanda. By contrast, percentages of wives who were inaccurate were similar; approximately one-third of wives across all countries gave proxy responses that were at odds with their husbands’ responses. Large percentages of wives were uncertain of their husbands’ fertility preferences, reaching 50% in Comoros.

Conclusions: These findings indicate low levels of spousal discussion of fertility preferences. We encourage survey organizations to invest in collecting data from males directly.

Contribution: By demonstrating that majorities of wives across countries either inaccurately perceive or are uncertain of their husband’s fertility preferences, the current study justifies collecting data from male partners directly.

Author’s Affiliation

• Dana Sarnak - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, United States of America EMAIL
• Stan Becker - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, United States of America EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Using sequence analysis to visualize exposure to pregnancy in the postpartum period
Volume 53 - Article 1

Predictive utility of key family planning indicators on dynamic contraceptive outcomes: Results from longitudinal surveys in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Uganda, and Côte d'Ivoire
Volume 50 - Article 45

The crossover between life expectancies at birth and at age one: The imbalance in the life table
Volume 24 - Article 4

Similar articles in Demographic Research

Educational differences in fertility recuperation: The role of partnership trajectories in Spain
Volume 54 - Article 38    | Keywords: births, fertility, partnership trajectories, recuperation, recuperation of births, Spain

Economic resources and parity among US women: A conjoint experiment on preferred family scenarios
Volume 54 - Article 34    | Keywords: conjoint analysis, economic resources, experiments, family, fertility

Partnership life courses and completed fertility in Spain
Volume 54 - Article 29    | Keywords: feature selection, fertility, life course, partnership trajectories, Spain

Harmonised fertility histories in four British longitudinal cohort studies
Volume 54 - Article 18    | Keywords: cohort studies, fertility, harmonised data, United Kingdom

A flexible model for reconstructing education-specific fertility rates: The case of sub-Saharan Africa
Volume 54 - Article 12    | Keywords: Bayesian demography, Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), education, fertility, fertility rates, sub-Saharan Africa