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Measures of family size preferences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

J. C. Barrett
J. C. Barrett
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
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Summary

Estimates of preferred family sizes are derived from those achieved at various durations of marriage, using a Monte Carlo simulation model of reproductive histories, slightly modified in its representation of breast-feeding. The method of estimation consists in inverting the relationship between these two distributions (wanted and achieved births) which form respectively an input to and an output of the model. The increasing preference for families of two children is shown in cohorts married in England and Wales in 1951, 1956, 1961, 1966 and 1971 for women's ages at marriage 20–24 and 25–29. Sensitivity to assumptions regarding contraceptive effectiveness is tested, and ranges established for estimates. The evolution and stability of family size preferences are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , July 1986 , pp. 357 - 370
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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