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Abstract
BackgroundUnderstanding women’s desire to have more children is critical for planning towards future reproductive health behaviour. We examined the association between socio-economic and demographic factors and fertility preferences among women of reproductive age in Ghana.MethodsThis study used data from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey. The sample consisted of 5389 women of reproductive age. We fitted Binary logistic regression models to assess the association between socio-economic status and fertility preferences, whiles controlling for demographic factors. The results were presented as crude odds ratios (cORs) and adjusted odds ratios (aORs) together with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals.ResultsApproximately 60% of women of reproductive age in Ghana desired for more children. Women with no formal education were more likely to desire for more children compared to those with higher level of education (aOR = 2.16, 95% CI 1.29–3.48). The odds of desire for more children was higher among women who lived in rural areas compared to those who lived in urban areas (aOR = 1.24, 95% CI 1.01–1.53). With region, women who lived in the Northern region were more likely to desire for more children compared to those who lived in the Ashanti region (aOR = 4.03, 95% CI 2.69–6.04). Similarly, women who belonged to other ethnic groups were more likely to desire for more children compared to Akans (aOR = 1.78, 95% CI 1.35–2.35). The desire for more children was higher among women with 0–3 births compared to those with four or more births (aOR = 7.15, 95% CI 5.97–8.58). In terms of religion, Muslim women were more likely to desire for more children compared to Christians (aOR = 1.87, 95% CI 1.49–2.34).ConclusionThis study concludes that women in high-socio economic status are less likely to desire more children. On the other hand, women in the Northern, Upper East and those belonging to the Islamic religious sect tend to desire more children. To aid in fertility control programmes designing and strengthening of existing ones, these factors ought to be critically considered.
Highlights
Understanding women’s desire to have more children is critical for planning towards future reproduc‐ tive health behaviour
The results show that women belonging to the poorest wealth quintile and those with no formal education were more likely to desire for more children compared to richest and women with higher education respectively
Women who belonged to other ethnic groups were more likely to desire for more children compared to Akans
Summary
Understanding women’s desire to have more children is critical for planning towards future reproduc‐ tive health behaviour. The current demographic changes have witnessed unprecedented reduction in the level of fertility in all regions of the world [2]. This is relevant in low- and middle-income countries where population growth has adverse effects on poverty situation and wellbeing of the nations [3]. Many households with smaller family sizes are more likely to benefit from demographic dividends and this suggests that uncontrolled population growth will have some dire consequences on the economic status as well as other devastating effects on maternal and child health [4, 6]. Contraceptive use has helped to prevent about 2.7 million infant and maternal mortality globally [9]
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