Desired and excess fertility in Europe and the United States: indirect estimates from World Fertility Survey data
Calhoun, C.A.
European Journal of Population 7(1): 29-57
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0168-6577 PMID: 12158961 DOI: 10.1007/bf01796615Document Number: 338946
This paper presents indirect estimates of desired family size and unwanted births for married and cohabiting women in 12 European countries and the US. An econometric model for censored discrete data is used to estimate the distribution of desired family size from individual observations on children ever-born and total expected births. The data are from the UNECE Comparative Fertility Study of WFS surveys for Europe and the US and originated in national surveys between April 1975-December 1979. Estimates of the bivariate distribution of cumulative and desired fertility are used to compute the proportion of women with excess fertility and the average number of unwanted births for each country. The indirect estimates are compared with those from an analysis of survey responses to questions about desired and unwanted births. Multivariate modes that control for the effects of marriage duration, age at marriage, education, employment status, work experience, and total family income are also reported.