Preference for children and subsequent fertility in matlab: Does wife-husband agreement matter?

This study examines wife-husband preference for children and subsequent fer tility for a period of 5 years in the treatment and comparison areas of Mat lab, Bangladesh. The two data sets used were: the In-depth Survey (1984) an d the Demographic Surveillance System (1984-89). In the case of wives' pref erences for children, subsequent childbearing was 13.8% higher than desired in the treatment area and 44.7% higher than desired in the comparison area . After controlling for all variables in the model, the likelihood of givin g birth was 1.78 times higher for wives who wanted no more children, but wh ose husbands did want more, compared with couples where neither husband nor wife wanted more children. For couples where the wife wanted more, but the husband did not want more children, the likelihood of giving birth was 0.6 3 times that of couples where both the husband and wife wanted more childre n. This finding suggests that to enhance the decline in fertility in these two areas of Matlab, it will be necessary to motivate both wives and husban ds to cease childbearing.