Childspacing of currently married Filipino women married only once

Abstract

Using 1983 National Demographic Survey (NDS) data on currently married women and been married only once, this study examines childspacing differentials among Filipino women utilizing life table techniques. In particular, the subsequent birth from parity 1 to parity 5 are examined in relation to women's current place of residence, education, contraceptive use, experience of infant mortality and current age. Examination shows that in Metro Manila and other urban areas, the proportion of women having subsequent birth tended to decline faster after the second birth. In rural areas, the proportion of women having subsequent birth from parity 1 to parity 5 shows only a slight tendency to decline. Compared with rural women, women in Metro Manila and other urban areas have longer birth intervals after the second birth. Younger women have second births sooner but a smaller proportion have subsequent births and they have longer birth intervals at third and higher births than older women. This manifests changing attitudes towards reproductive behaviour among Filipino women. Results of the analysis confirm the negative effect of education on fertility. Women of higher education exhibit a lower proportion having subsequent births and longer birth intervals after the second birth than women of lesser education. The effect of women's experience of contraceptive use on the quantum and timing of fertility is observed to operate more at the higher parities. In other urban and rural areas, the proportion of ever-users of contraception having further births is lower than for never-users after the second birth but after the third birth in Metro Manila. The study gives further empirical evidence of the effect of infant mortality on fertility behaviour. For each birth order the death of the previous child within the first year of life tended to increase the proportion of women having a subsequent birth, and shortened the average intervals between births.