Child Wanted and When? Fertility Intentions, Wantedness and Child Survival in Rural Northern Ghana: Evidence from Longitudinal Surveillance Data

Ayaga A. Bawah, Columbia University
Patrick Asuming, Columbia University
James F. Phillips, Columbia University

Are differential outcomes in terms of child mortality with respect to the wantedness or otherwise of children born to women. In surveys women are asked about whether they desirability of particular pregnancies at the time they became pregnant. Are children born to women who indicated that they did not want to become pregnant at the time they did have higher risk of mortality compared to those who were wanted. This paper links cross-sectional responses on wantedness to longitudinal data on births and deaths of children. Panel surveys compiled over the 1993-2003 period are linked to longitudinal survival data and proportional hazard models to determine if children born to women who indicated that they did not want to have a child at the time they did have higher risk of mortality relative to those wanted. Preliminary analysis suggests that child mortality is comparatively higher among births that were deemed undesirable.