Page 146 - IJPS-11-5

International Journal of
Population Studies Fertility desire of married women

Table 2. Distribution of married women who desire to limit childbearing by background characteristics
Background characteristics Gabon (n=3,664) Mali (n=6,782) Tanzania (n=6,946) Zambia (n=6,674)
Age *** *** *** ***
15 – 24 68 (13.9) 23 (1.2) 66 (4.0) 152 (9.4)
25 – 34 331 (20.4) 374 (12.1) 567 (20.6) 785 (29.1)
35 – 49 812 (48.3) 1,318 (60.1) 1,477 (59.6) 1,806 (74.3)
Residence *** ns ns ***
Urban 1,087 (31.2) 374 (23.4) 675 (32.4) 1,188 (43.2)
Rural 125 (39.0) 1,342 (24.1) 1,435 (29.9) 1,555 (39.0)
Women’s education *** *** *** ***
None 109 (34.7) 1,419 (27.3) 413 (30.8) 331 (52.6)
Primary 246 (40.5) 178 (20.5) 1,465 (32.2) 1,525 (44.6)
Secondary 740 (32.0) 107 (10.8) 192 (20.9) 752 (31.9)
Tertiary 117 (20.7) 12 (11.0) 40 (51.9) 136 (40.0)
Partner’s education * *** * ***
None 91 (26.4) 1,298 (25.6) 242 (28.6) 169 (45.4)
Primary 94 (40.5) 138 (21.4) 1,523 (32.1) 1,085 (45.5)
Secondary 544 (31.5) 183 (21.0) 280 (26.0) 1,126 (35.9)
Tertiary 261 (29.8) 42 (13.3) 65 (31.2) 248 (40.9)
Working status *** *** *** ***
Not working 496 (27.7) 595 (20.0) 354 (24.4) 1,204 (37.0)
Working 716 (35.6) 1,121 (26.6) 1,756 (32.3) 1,540 (44.1)
Parity *** *** *** ***
1 – 2 185 (11.7) 75 (3.3) 176 (6.6) 262 (11.0)
3 – 4 426 (32.3) 259 (12.9) 602 (29.8) 739 (36.7)
5+ 601 (67.1) 1,381 (48.1) 1,332 (60.6) 1,742 (74.2)
Wealth status ns ns *** ***
Poor 432 (35.6) 702 (25.5) 761 (27.9) 995 (36.9)
Middle 244 (29.4) 348 (23.3) 430 (32.9) 554 (43.3)
Rich 536 (30.5) 666 (22.7) 919 (32.2) 1,195 (43.2)
Husband’s desire for children *** ** *** ***
Both want the same 318 (32.5) 238 (20.5) 851 (30.1) 1,051 (37.9)
Husband wants more 276 (28.2) 854 (25.4) 669 (37.0) 746 (45.9)
Husband wants a few 57 (17.8) 74 (28.3) 129 (30.4) 242 (40.9)
Decision-making about own health ns *** *** ***
Woman 340 (31.4) 176 (32.9) 444 (40.4) 1,198 (43.1)
Woman and husband/partner 543 (31.6) 267 (30.1) 1,177 (30.2) 1,077 (40.0)
Husband/partner alone 326 (33.2) 1,253 (22.3) 484 (25.9) 467 (37.1)
Exposure to media family planning messages * ns ** ns
No 928 (33.1) 1,021 (23.9) 644 (28.5) 2,088 (40.2)
Yes 284 (28.4) 695 (23.9) 1,466 (31.7) 675 (42.2)
Note: Data presented as n (%) unless stated otherwise; Statistical significance determined at *p<0.05, **p<0.01, and ***p<0.001.
Abbreviation: ns: Non-significant.

and Zambia. Women from poor households (27.9% in desire to limit childbearing compared to those from
Tanzania and 36.9% in Zambia) had lower reports of middle and rich households. Regarding contraceptive

Volume 11 Issue 5 (2025) 140 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.5584