More married men desire larger families than women

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Director General Macdonald Obudho (left), National Treasury and Economic Planning Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u (centre) and Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha during the Launch of the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey main report at KICC in Nairobi on July 3, 2023. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NMG

Nearly six out of every 10 married men desire more children, according to data from the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, indicating gender disparity in fertility preferences.

The findings of the study show more men desire a larger family than women.

“For women aged 15 to 49, the mean ideal number of children is 3.7, while the mean ideal number of children is 4.2 for men in the same age bracket,” reads the report in part.

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The desire to have another child is at its highest among men and women with no children and sits at its lowest among men and women who have six or more children.

However, women with one child desire to have another child as much as those with without with a par score of 88 percent.

Married men desire more children irrespective of the number of children they have at present compared to women.

“Irrespective of the number of children one has, a higher percentage of currently married men compared to women desired another child,” adds the report.

The mean ideal number of children is higher for men at 4.2 children than for women at 3.7 children irrespective of marital status.

For the married, men’s ideal number of children stands at 4.6 beating that of women at 4.1.

Tracking the fertility preference data historically, men have registered an increased appetite for more children over the years while women’s desire for more offspring has peaked.

For instance, the mean ideal number of children for women aged 15 to 49 declined from 4.4 in 1989 to 3.7 in 1993 and has remained unchanged since.

On the flip side, men of the same age had 3.8 as the ideal number of children in 1993 but has since fluctuated to 4.2 in 2022.

The increased desire for more children among men is in spite of a tough going economic environment over recent years with the cost of living for instance lifting off to multi-year highs with the inflation rate for instance standing at 7.9 percent at the end of June.

Ranked by county, residents in Mandera, Wajir and Garissa have the highest mean ideal number of children for women aged 15 to 49 at 9.8, 8.9 and 8.1 children respectively.

Kericho, Machakos and Makueni counties meanwhile have the lowest number of ideal children at 2.8, 2.9 and 2.9 respectively.

The lower desire for more children among women has coincided with the increased use of family planning methods where the incidence of unwanted pregnancies has also declined.

The percentage of live births and current pregnancies among women aged 15 to 49 that were wanted has increased from 45 percent in 1993 to 63 percent in 2022.

On the flip side, the rate of unwanted live births and current pregnancies has declined from 18 percent to nine percent in 2022.

63 percent of currently married women reported the use of contraceptives whereas 57 percent of the women use a modern method of family planning.

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The use of modern family planning methods by currently married women has increased from 18 percent in 1989 to 57 percent in 2022.

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