Mens' desire for another child higher than womens' - report

57 per cent of currently married men want to have another child.

In Summary
  • Information was obtained from currently married women and men between the age 15–49.
  • Forty seven per cent of currently married women and 57 per cent of currently married men want to have another child.
A father and his child.
A father and his child.
Image: FILE

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics(KNBS) report shows that a higher percentage of men desire another child as compared to women.

"Irrespective of the number of children one has, a higher percentage of currently married men compared to women desire another child," the report stated.

Information was obtained from currently married women and men between the ages of 15–49.

Forty-seven per cent of currently married women and 57 per cent of currently married men want to have another child.

The report also sought to find out whether women and men wanted more children and if so, how long they would prefer to wait before the birth of the next child.

"17 per cent of women and 20 per of men want to have another child soon, while 30 per cent of women and 37 per cent of men want to wait at least 2 years before having another child," the report noted.

The percentage of married men and women who desired to have another child as shown by the report is highest among those with no children.

"Percentage is highest among women without children(88 per cent), and those with one child (88 per cent), and lowest (16 per cent) among those who have six or more children," the report showed.

"For currently married men, the percentage who desire to have another child is highest (92 per cent) among those with no children and lowest (33 per cent) among those who have six or more children."

The percentage of currently married men with six or more children who do not want any more children is lowest (29 per cent) among those with no education and highest (71 per cent) among those with secondary education. 

Forty-seven percent of currently married men in the lowest wealth quintile with six or more children and 69 per cent of those in the highest wealth quintile do not want any more children respectively.

The report noted that the percentage of currently married women who do not want more children increases with the number of children a woman already has.

"Among currently married women with no children, only 3 per cent do not desire to have children in future," the report showed.

"For those with six or more children, 75 per cent do not desire to have any more children."

The 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (2022 KDHS) was implemented by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) collaborating with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and other stakeholders.

Data was collected from February 17 to July 31, 2022.

The sample for the 2022 KDHS report was drawn from the Kenya Household Master Sample Frame (K-HMSF).

The sample size was computed at 42,300 households, with 25 households selected per cluster, which resulted in 1,692 clusters spread across the country, 1,026 clusters in rural areas, and 666 in urban areas.

The survey was done through a questionnaire where they used the household questionnaire, the woman’s questionnaire, the man’s questionnaire, and the biomarker questionnaire. 

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