The survey focused on what causes parents of different age to start a family, how the birth of a child affects the lives of women and men, and fatherhood in families with small children. First, the respondents' childhood and youth were charted. They were presented with questions on their childhood family, the number of their siblings, the number of their spouse's siblings, how old their parents were when their first child was born, and at what age their first dating relationship began. Some questions pertained to how old the respondents were when their first child was born, and whether they had considered themselves to be too young or old to have their first child. In addition, the number of respondents' children and the number of their spouse's children were queried, as well as whether the respondents were planning to have more children. Some questions explored the respondents' and their spouse's current employment, income level, and short-time working because of child care responsibilities. Their opinions were canvassed on what would be the ideal age to have a first child, and which factors had influenced the decision to have their first child. The respondents' employment and financial situation just before the child was born were also queried. The respondents were presented with a set of attitudinal statements on challenges involved in starting a family. They gave their opinions on the most frequent causes of arguments with their spouse, and how important they considered various things to be, including financial security, hobbies, good relationship, and health. The respondents also assessed how satisfied they were with those things in their lives. In relation to received support as regards home and child care, the respondents were asked who had helped them in various situations, for instance when their child had fallen ill or when their home had needed cleaning. They were also asked whether they would have liked to receive more support as regards parenting. If they answered yes, they were also asked to tell what kind of support they would have liked to receive and from whom. Further questions covered the division of child care responsibilities between the mother and the father in their household. The respondents' opinions were also charted on various factors related to parenting and starting a family, and on the role of the father. The rest of the questions were aimed at male respondents. First they answered open-ended questions about their own conceptions of the father's role, the important things in fatherhood, and what they would like to teach to their daughters and sons. The male respondents were presented with a set of attitudinal statements on fatherhood. They were asked whether they had attended the birth of their children, and whether they had been away from work over a week to care for their children. Further open-ended questions probed the male respondents' opinions on the most problematic and best things in being a father. Views on family life were charted with the help of various statements, and finally, the male respondents assessed how they had succeeded as fathers and spouses. Background variables included the respondent's gender, year of birth, municipality of residence, education, and occupational group.

The 45 men who have served as the President of the United States (officially there have been 46 as Grover Cleveland is counted twice) have fathered, adopted or allegedly fathered at least 190 children. Of these 190, 169 were conceived naturally, eleven were adopted and there are ten reasonable cases of alleged paternity (possibly more). Today, there are 34 living presidential children; the oldest of which is Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, daughter of Lyndon B. and Lady Bird Johnson; the youngest is Barron Trump, son of Donald and Melania Trump. John Tyler is the president who fathered the most children, having fifteen children over two marriages (and allegedly fathering more with slaves), while his successor, James K. Polk, remains the only U.S. president never to have fathered or adopted any known children. Coincidentally, as of November 2020, the U.S.' tenth president, John Tyler, has two grandsons who are still alive today, despite the fact that he was born in 1790.

The First Family

The president, their children and spouse are collectively known as the First Family of the United States; the current first family is made up of President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, as well as their children, Hunter and Ashley. Two of President Biden's children died before he was elected to office; his son Beau died of cancer in 2015, while his one year old daughter Naomi was killed in a car accident in 1972, along with Biden's wife, Neilia (who was also Beau and Hunter's mother). Two presidents' sons have gone on to assume the presidency themselves; these were John Quincy Adams and George W. Bush respectively, while one presidential grandson, Benjamin Harrison, later became president.

Alleged children

Three U.S. presidents have allegedly fathered illegitimate children with slaves. The most well-known and substantial of these allegations relates to Thomas Jefferson and his slave, Sally Hemings; who was also the half-sister of Jefferson's wife Martha (with whom he had already fathered six children). Following Martha's passing in 1782, its is believed that the future-president would then go on to have a relationship with Hemings that spanned four decades and saw the birth of as many as eight children between 1790 and 1808. Hemings, thought to have been 14 years old at the beginning of the relationship (Jefferson was 44), and her children remained enslaved to Jefferson until his death in 1826. DNA tests conducted in recent years have confirmed a genetic connection between the Hemings and Jefferson families, and the majority of historians accept that Thomas Jefferson was the father of at least six of Hemings' children. Less substantial claims have also been levelled at John Tyler, with political opponents claiming that he fathered several children with slaves in the years following his first wife's death; although these claims have been widely disregarded by historians, with little investigation into their validity. It is alleged that William Henry Harrison also fathered at least six children with one of his slaves, Dilsia, however these claims are anecdotal and have been disregarded or ignored by historians. In spite of this, to this day, there are some African-American families in the U.S. who claim to be the descendants of both Harrison and Tyler.

It is generally accepted that two other presidents, Grover Cleveland and Warren G. Harding, fathered children through extramarital affairs. It is likely that Grover Cleveland had fathered a child out of wedlock in 1874; even paying child support to the mother, acknowledging that he could have been the father. When the child's mother accused Cleveland of rape, he had her institutionalized to discredit these accusations, and the child was taken away and raised by Cleveland's friends. The issue came to light nationally during the 1884 election campaign, but Cleveland still emerged victorious. In 1927, four years after his death in office, it came to light that Warren G. Harding had fathered a child out of wedlock a year before winning the 1920 election. The child was conceived during one of his two long-term, extramarital affairs, and Harding did pay the mother child support, although he kept the affair and child a secret. Harding died before the child's fourth birthday, his family dismissed these claims as rumors, claiming that he was infertile; however, DNA tests confirmed that the child was his in 2015. While there have been numerous accusations of presidents' infidelity in the past century, particularly relating to John F. Kennedy and Donald Trump; Trump is the only president since Harding to have had a child out of wedlock (although the couple did get married two months after the birth of their daughter, Tiffany).

In 2023, there were about 15.09 million children living with a single mother in the United States, and about 3.05 million children living with a single father. The number of children living with a single mother is down from its peak in 2012, and the number of children living with a single father is down from its peak in 2005.

Marriage and divorce in the United States

Despite popular opinion in the United States that “half of all marriages end in divorce,” the divorce rate in the U.S. has fallen significantly since 1992. The marriage rate, which has also been decreasing since the 1990s, was still higher than the divorce rate in 2021. Half of all marriages may not end in divorce, but it does seem that fewer people are choosing to get married in the first place.

New family structures

In addition to a falling marriage rate, fewer people in the U.S. have children under the age of 18 living in the house in comparison to 1970. Over the past decade, the share of families with children under 18, whether that be married couples or single parents, has stayed mostly steady, although the number of births in the U.S. has also fallen.

The typical American picture of a family with 2.5 kids might not be as relevant as it once was: In 2023, there was an average of 1.94 children under 18 per family in the United States. This is a decrease from 2.33 children under 18 per family in 1960.

Familial structure in the United States

If there’s one thing the United States is known for, it’s diversity. Whether this is diversity in ethnicity, culture, or family structure, there is something for everyone in the U.S. Two-parent households in the U.S. are declining, and the number of families with no children are increasing. The number of families with children has stayed more or less constant since 2000.

Adoptions in the U.S.

Families in the U.S. don’t necessarily consist of parents and their own biological children. In 2021, around 35,940 children were adopted by married couples, and 13,307 children were adopted by single women.

With a total number of more than *** million, France's most common type of family in 2021 was composed of a couple without children. However, in France, like in other Western countries, family models have undergone a variety of transformations in recent years. Families in France According to the source, most children in France in 2021 were living with a couple but there were also more than ***** million children who were raised by single parents. More than *** million households in France that year were composed of single mothers with children, compared to ******* for single fathers with children. Moreover, with the increase in divorces, blended families also became more common. In 2021, ******* children were living in a blended family. The evolution of family structure In France, mentalities are changing about family and raising children. In a survey from 2019, most of the French respondents declared that companies and employers should make it easier for men to combine childcare with work. Fathers’ role is becoming more important today. Family structure is changing as people appear to marry later, and meanwhile, the number of divorces is rising. Since the 90’s the number of children born out of wedlock in France has increased. In 2022, more than ** percent of children born in France were born out of wedlock, compared to **** percent in 1994. On the other hand, more children are now living in joint physical custody with a blended family or a single parent. In 2020, more than ****** divorces involved children born from the relationship.

Abstract

Moldova's first Demographic and Health Survey (2005 MDHS) is a nationally representative sample survey of 7,440 women age 15-49 and 2,508 men age 15-59 selected from 400 sample points (clusters) throughout Moldova (excluding the Transnistria region). It is designed to provide data to monitor the population and health situation in Moldova; it includes several indicators which follow up on those from the 1997 Moldova Reproductive Health Survey (1997 MRHS) and the 2000 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (2000 MICS). The 2005 MDHS used a two-stage sample based on the 2004 Population and Housing Census and was designed to produce separate estimates for key indicators for each of the major regions in Moldova, including the North, Center, and South regions and Chisinau Municipality. Unlike the 1997 MRHS and the 2000 MICS surveys, the 2005 MDHS did not cover the region of Transnistria. Data collection took place over a two-month period, from June 13 to August 18, 2005.

The survey obtained detailed information on fertility levels, abortion levels, marriage, sexual activity, fertility preferences, awareness and use of family planning methods, breastfeeding practices, nutritional status of women and young children, childhood mortality, maternal and child health, adult health, and awareness and behavior regarding HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. Hemoglobin testing was conducted on women and children to detect the presence of anemia. Additional features of the 2005 MDHS include the collection of information on international emigration, language preference for reading printed media, and domestic violence. The 2005 MDHS was carried out by the National Scientific and Applied Center for Preventive Medicine, hereafter called the National Center for Preventive Medicine (NCPM), of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection. ORC Macro provided technical assistance for the MDHS through the USAID-funded MEASURE DHS project. Local costs of the survey were also supported by USAID, with additional funds from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and in-kind contributions from the NCPM.

MAIN RESULTS

CHARACTERISTICS OF RESPONDENTS

Ethnicity and Religion. Most women and men in Moldova are of Moldovan ethnicity (77 percent and 76 percent, respectively), followed by Ukrainian (8-9 percent of women and men), Russian (6 percent of women and men), and Gagauzan (4-5 percent of women and men). Romanian and Bulgarian ethnicities account for 2 to 3 percent of women and men. The overwhelming majority of Moldovans, about 95 percent, report Orthodox Christianity as their religion.

Residence and Age. The majority of respondents, about 58 percent, live in rural areas. For both sexes, there are proportionally more respondents in age groups 15-19 and 45-49 (and also 45-54 for men), whereas the proportion of respondents in age groups 25-44 is relatively lower. This U-shaped age distribution reflects the aging baby boom cohort following World War II (the youngest of the baby boomers are now in their mid-40s), and their children who are now mostly in their teens and 20s. The smaller proportion of men and women in the middle age groups reflects the smaller cohorts following the baby boom generation and those preceding the generation of baby boomers' children. To some degree, it also reflects the disproportionately higher emigration of the working-age population.

Education. Women and men in Moldova are universally well educated, with virtually 100 percent having at least some secondary or higher education; 79 percent of women and 83 percent of men have only a secondary or secondary special education, and the remainder pursues a higher education. More women (21 percent) than men (16 percent) pursue higher education.

Language Preference. Among women, preferences for language of reading material are about equal for Moldovan (37 percent) and Russian (35 percent) languages. Among men, preference for Russian (39 percent) is higher than for Moldovan (25 percent). A substantial percentage of women and men prefer Moldovan and Russian equally (27 percent of women and 32 percent of men).

Living Conditions. Access to electricity is almost universal for households in Moldova. Ninety percent of the population has access to safe drinking water, with 86 percent in rural areas and 96 percent in urban areas. Seventy-seven percent of households in Moldova have adequate means of sanitary disposal, with 91 percent of households in urban areas and only 67 percent in rural areas.

Children's Living Arrangements. Compared with other countries in the region, Moldova has the highest proportion of children who do not live with their mother and/or father. Only about two-thirds (69 percent) of children under age 15 live with both parents. Fifteen percent live with just their mother although their father is alive, 5 percent live with just their father although their mother is alive, and 7 percent live with neither parent although they are both alive. Compared with living arrangements of children in 2000, the situation appears to have worsened.

FERTILITY

Fertility Levels and Trends. The total fertility rate (TFR) in Moldova is 1.7 births. This means that, on average, a woman in Moldova will give birth to 1.7 children by the end of her reproductive period. Overall, fertility rates have declined since independence in 1991. However, data indicate that fertility rates may have increased in recent years. For example, women of childbearing age have given birth to, on average, 1.4 children at the end of their childbearing years. This is slightly less than the total fertility rate (1.7), with the difference indicating that fertility in the past three years is slightly higher than the accumulation of births over the past 30 years.

Fertility Differentials. The TFR for rural areas (1.8 births) is higher than that for urban areas (1.5 births). Results show that this urban-rural difference in childbearing rates can be attributed almost exclusively to younger age groups.

CONTRACEPTION

Knowledge of Contraception. Knowledge of family planning is nearly universal, with 99 percent of all women age 15-49 knowing at least one modern method of family planning. Among all women, the male condom, IUD, pills, and withdrawal are the most widely known methods of family planning, with over 80 percent of all women saying they have heard of these methods. Female sterilization is known by two-thirds of women, while periodic abstinence (rhythm method) is recognized by almost six in ten women. Just over half of women have heard of the lactational amenorrhea method (LAM), while 40-50 percent of all women have heard of injectables, male sterilization, and foam/jelly. The least widely known methods are emergency contraception, diaphragm, and implants.

Use of Contraception. Sixty-eight percent of currently married women are using a family planning method to delay or stop childbearing. Most are using a modern method (44 percent of married women), while 24 percent use a traditional method of contraception. The IUD is the most widely used of the modern methods, being used by 25 percent of married women. The next most widely used method is withdrawal, used by 20 percent of married women. Male condoms are used by about 7 percent of women, especially younger women. Five percent of married women have been sterilized and 4 percent each are using the pill and periodic abstinence (rhythm method). The results show that Moldovan women are adopting family planning at lower parities (i.e., when they have fewer children) than in the past. Among younger women (age 20-24), almost half (49 percent) used contraception before having any children, compared with only 12 percent of women age 45-49.

MATERNAL HEALTH

Antenatal Care and Delivery Care. Among women with a birth in the five years preceding the survey, almost all reported seeing a health professional at least once for antenatal care during their last pregnancy; nine in ten reported 4 or more antenatal care visits. Seven in ten women had their first antenatal care visit in the first trimester. In addition, virtually all births were delivered by a health professional, in a health facility. Results also show that the vast majority of women have timely checkups after delivering; 89 percent of all women received a medical checkup within two days of the birth, and another 6 percent within six weeks.

CHILD HEALTH

Childhood Mortality. The infant mortality rate for the 5-year period preceding the survey is 13 deaths per 1,000 live births, meaning that about 1 in 76 infants dies before the first birthday. The under-five mortality rate is almost the same with 14 deaths per 1,000 births. The near parity of these rates indicates that most all early childhood deaths take place during the first year of life. Comparison with official estimates of IMRs suggests that this rate has been improving over the past decade.

NUTRITION

Breastfeeding Practices. Breastfeeding is nearly universal in Moldova: 97 percent of children are breastfed. However the duration of breast-feeding is not long, exclusive breastfeeding is not widely practiced, and bottle-feeding is not uncommon. In terms of the duration of breastfeeding, data show that by age 12-15 months, well over half of children (59 percent) are no longer being breastfed. By age 20-23 months, almost all children have been weaned.

Exclusive breastfeeding is not widely practiced and supplementary feeding begins early: 57 percent of breastfed children less than 4 months are exclusively breastfed, and 46 percent under six months are exclusively breastfeed. The remaining breastfed children also consume plain water, water-based liquids or juice, other milk in addition to breast milk, and complimentary foods. Bottle-feeding is fairly widespread in Moldova;

In 2022, the child abuse rate for children of Hispanic origin was at 7, indicating 7 out of every 1,000 Hispanic children in the United States suffered from some sort of abuse. This rate was highest among American Indian or Alaska Native children, with 14.3 children out of every 1,000 experiencing some form of abuse. Child abuse in the U.S. The child abuse rate in the United States is highest among American Indian or Alaska Native victims, followed by African-American victims. It is most common among children between two to five years of age. While child abuse cases are fairly evenly distributed between girls and boys, more boys than girls are victims of abuse resulting in death. The most common type of maltreatment is neglect, followed by physical abuse. Risk factors Child abuse is often reported by teachers, law enforcement officers, or social service providers. In the large majority of cases, the perpetrators of abuse were a parent of the victim. Risk factors, such as teen pregnancy, violent crime, and poverty that are associated with abuse and neglect have been found to be quite high in the United States in comparison to other countries.

Translation (Rita Seng Mai) Once in a village, a man remarried another woman after his first wife had died. He had two children with his first wife. His second wife disliked his children and threatened him, "If your children live with us, I won't marry you." He asked her, "Then what should I do to my children?" She said, "Abandon them in the forest. I will pack rice for them." He agreed with her and said, "As you wish. I will send them away." His children were just seven and eight years old. He took them to the forest to abandon them. The dog they raised followed them when they went there. In the forest, the father told his children, "Wait here. Let me go find some wood." He left them and the dog there. And he went back home. It was getting dark gradually. The children were waiting for their father without knowing that they were abandoned. They didn't know where to find him. At that time, the dog made noise and led them on the way back home. They just followed the dog. When three of them arrived home, the children shouted, "We are home." The father saw them and said, "I thought you had already gone home, so I went back. Why did you arrive just now?" His second wife told him, "You said you had abandoned them. You are just lying to me! You don't want to abandon them, right? Such a liar!" Time flew fast and things were just going. The children became nine and ten years old. The second wife told her husband, "This time, send them to a very far place." He said, "Okay. I will do as you say. You dislike my children so much. But my children will be really brave and intelligent men. I will make sure they won't be able to come back this time." She said, "You should kill the dog first. If not, the dog will lead them on the way back home. They will definitely find the way to home." He said, "Okay. I will kill it." He took his two children to the forest and gave them some rice packs. Three of them reached the deepest part of the forest. The father told his sons, "My sons, wait here. Let me go find some wood. We will see again, my sons. There is a guardian nat that protects you. Don't worry. Let's see again." And he lied to them and went back home alone. When it was getting dark, the children didn't know where to go. They were lost in the forest. So they just kept walking and walking. Then they saw a cave somewhere. They just walked into the cave. There was an old man inside the cave. He asked them, "Why are you two here? Don't worry. I will take care of you. Live here with me." At midnight, they heard the voices saying, "It's the smell of humans! The human!" They were frightened. The old man comforted them, "Don't be scared. They are just talking about others. It's not about you. Don't be scared." He knew that the children were scared. When the children looked at the cave again, it became a house surprisingly. They lived there with the old man and became grown men. The old man said, "Both of you become grown men. I will teach you the skills you should know." He taught them hunting skills. And he gave the eldest brother, "You are the elder brother, so you will have this gold cross-bow." He gave a gold stick to the younger brother. And he told them, "Use this bow and stick to protect yourself. Go anywhere you want with the skills you have." He also gave them each pack of rice. Everything they touched turned into gold. The two brothers left the old man and went to a country. They happened to sleep at a widow's house in a village. The widow said, "Sons, this is the place where the danger of the vultures and tigers is serious. They like eating the strangers." They said politely, "No need to worry, grandma. Don't worry." They didn't sleep in that house that night. They climbed up a tree and slept on it. They also made the shape of their bodies on the ground by using branches and leaves. At night, they sensed the danger. The big tiger was approaching the virtual human shape to attack. At that time, the brothers killed the tiger by using the cross-bow. A long time ago, the vultures ate human flesh. They ate humans. The vulture attacked them fiercely. The brothers killed the vulture that attacked them. The next morning, the widow said, "The two guests have killed the bad tiger! The vulture is dead too. The king promised to give his country to the one who could kill the tiger and the vulture. Now give it to them." She spread the news about the brothers. The king heard the news. He wondered, "Who are they?" He wanted to know about them. The cross-bow was a gold cross-bow. People said, "How could the tiger die just by getting hurt a bit?" The king heard the news about the two brothers and called them to the palace. He said to the eldest brother, "Don't go anywhere. Just live here. I will let you marry my daughter and give you my country." Then the eldest brother just lived there. He married the princess and ruled half of the country. He lived happily there. Then he told his younger brother, "I have a wife and a country now. Everything is good for me now. I will live here. As our grandpa said, you go and find your place." The younger brother held his gold stick and set forth on his journey. He just kept going nonstop. One day, he met an old widow on the way. She told him, "Son, there is a country ahead that faces a problem. People can't move a big rock from a well no matter how hard they try. There is a big rock blocking the waterway from the well. Go to that country and move it by using your gold stick." He asked her, "Okay, grandma. But where should I stay as a guest?" She said, "Sleep at the first hut on the outskirts of the village." He went to the hut the woman mentioned. The hut was so small and about to fall down. That night, the king announced, "I will let my princess marry the person who can move the rock from the well." The boy heard the announcement. But he didn't go there. He just stayed at home. Then the widow asked him, "Why don't you go there? Today, the villagers will move the rock from the well. Don't you go there?" But he just slept in the hut the whole day. The villagers tried so hard to move the rock, but they couldn't. Then the king said, "I have seven daughters. I will give the most beautiful daughter to the man who can take this rock out. I will give my country too." The old widow heard the announcement and told the boy about it. He said, "Grandma, that's so easy for me to take the rock out of the well. It's just a piece of cake." But he didn't go there. He just slept in the hut like it was none of his business. The next day, he went there and checked the situation. But he didn't move it away. He just went back home. Days and months had passed, but there was no one who could move the rock. One midnight, he secretly moved the rock from the well with the help of his gold stick. And he went back home and slept. The next morning, everyone was asking, "Who moved this rock?" The king's guards asked everyone who had moved the rock. The old widow heard about it when she went to the field. So she told the men, "I heard the boy, who is sleeping in my house all the time, once said that he could move the rock easily. But I don't know when he moved it." Then the king called the boy to the palace. However, the boy refused to go there. The king kept sending the guards to escort the boy. But he kept refusing to go to the palace. After six or seven times, he went to the palace to meet the king. The king asked him, "What do you want as a reward, boy?" He said, "As you had announced you would give the most beautiful princess and throne, give me now." The king said, "Yes, I promise to give. Choose the princess you like." He made his seven daughters stand in line in front of the boy. The boy chose the most humble and purest princess. He pointed at the princess and said, "I like her." Then the king celebrated the wedding of the boy and his daughter. Also, he gave him his throne. The two brothers, whom their parents disliked, became kings and lived happily in each country. On the other hand, their father and stepmother became poor and were in trouble. The father said, "Let's go to the country where my eldest son rules." On the way, they met the old man, who took care of the two brothers. The old man asked the couple, "Where are you heading?" They answered, "We heard our sons married to the princesses. We are heading to those countries. Show us how to get there, please." The old man told them the wrong way to those countries. The stepmother lost her way. Then the father and the stepmother were separated. The father barely made his way to the country where his son lived. He told his eldest son, "My son, I love both of you so much. But I married the bad stepmother for you. I was wrong. Forgive me, my son." He had to apologize to his sons for his past actions. Therefore, when a man gets married, he needs to choose the woman carefully. He needs to think whether she can become a good mother. Transcription (La Ring) Shawng de da mare langai mi kaw shi a num gaw num kaba jan si mat nna num kaji la ai da. Dai ma yan gaw ma yan shan nau lahkawng nga ai da. Dai ma yan hpe gaw dai madu wa gaw kasha yan hpe nra ai majaw "Na kasha yan hpe na kasha yan sha nga yang gaw ngai gaw nang kaw nwa sana ngai gaw hkawm mat sana" sha ngu galoi mung dai hku sha tsun shatsang ai da. Tsun shatsang rai jang she shi gaw "Deng nang ya nye kasha yan nga ai nang kaning di na ma" ngu jang she "E na kasha yan hpe htaw nam maling de sa sa kau u ngai shat makai lahkawng makai ya na" nga. "E law dan nga yang gaw ngai sa sa kau na" ngu na nam de sa sa kau ai da. Ma yan gaw asak mung grai nkaba sanit ning matsat ning sha naw re da. Ma yan kachyi sha naw re she nam de sa sa rai yang gaw shan wa ni masum sa wa ai she gwi langai mi rem ai da gwi mung hkan nang sai da. Hkan nang rai yang gaw "Nye kasha yan awa dai kaw hpun sa hta na yaw nan nau dai kaw na tsap nga mu yaw" ngu na she gwi hte rau tawn da kau ai da. Rai yang gaw kawa gaw wo wa mat sai da. Nam maling kata tawn kau

The survey studied the safety and insecurity experienced by Finnish children aged under 13 as well as parents' views on raising children. The survey was aimed at the parents/guardians of children and the questions were about one child selected for the sample. Topics studied included economic circumstances, health of the child, parenting, and violence or other illegal activity experienced by the child. The respondents were asked whether and to what extent they were worried about their economic circumstances, whether their child suffered from any long-term illness or health problem, whether the child required special support or care, whether the child had ever been hospitalised as a result of an accident, and whether the accident had resulted in permanent disability. Relating to parenting, the respondents were asked whether they emphasised certain things in raising the child (e.g. fairness, honesty). Concerning conflicts with the child in the previous 12 months, the questions surveyed whether the respondents had tried to resolve the conflicts by discussing and reasoning, whether they had become angry or upset (e.g. cried in front of the child, swore and snapped at her/him), whether they had threatened or physically hurt the child (e.g. said hurtful things, pulled her/his hair, slapped or hit her/him), and whether they had used other means to resolve the conflict (e.g. used misdirection, forbade them to play with their friends). The respondents were also asked how they had felt during the most recent conflict with the child and whether they had needed or received professional help in parenting. The respondents' childhood and teenage experiences of corporal punishment were charted as well as opinions on the acceptability of different forms of corporal punishment in different situations. Knowledge of the legal status of corporal punishment in Finland was surveyed. The respondents were asked whether they had ever had to intervene in order to protect their or someone else's child from violence, negligence, hurtful language or sexual abuse. Children's experiences of violence and other illegal activities was studied. The questions presented examined whether the child had been a victim of a crime (robbery, theft, assault) or bullying, and relating to each of these, the respondents were asked how many such incidents had occurred in the previous 12 months, how the respondents had found about the most recent incident, how many perpetrators there had been, who had been the main perpetrator, where the incident had happened, and whether any authorities had been notified. Relating to incidents involving violence, the respondents were asked what kind of injuries the child had sustained, and whether the injuries had had to be cared for by a health professional. Incidents of domestic violence witnessed by the child were examined by asking whether the child had seen the respondent being physically hurt by their spouse/partner or vice versa, and whether the child had seen her/his siblings being hurt by the respondent's spouse/partner. Finally, some questions were presented to families where the child's biological parents lived separately for some reason. Questions charted the respondent's relationship to the child and the other parent, whether the child met the other parent without the respondent's presence, and whether the respondent knew or was worried about that the child might be hurt or threatened during these meetings. The respondents who had a joint custody of the child with the other parent were asked whether the other parent had ever prevented the child from spending time with or contacting the respondent, how often the respondent had prevented the child from seeing or contacting the other parent, and how often this had happened in the previous 12 months. Background variables included the respondent's marital status, household composition, housing tenure, year of birth, education level, and own and spouse's economic activity as well as the child's gender, year of birth, region and major region of residence, and degree of urbanisation of the municipality of residence.

Abstract

Introduction The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2006 is a national sample survey designed to provide information on population, maternal and child health, child survival, reproductive health, nutrition, AIDS and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Ghana. MICS 2006 has different target population and involved interviewing a randomly selected group of men and women who are between 15 and 49 years of age. The women were asked questions about their background, the children they have given birth to, their knowledge and use of family planning methods, the health of their children, reproductive health, and other information that are helpful to policy makers and administrators in health and family planning fields. The men were asked questions about their background, the children they have fathered, their marriage status and sexual behaviour, and other information which were helpful to policymakers and administrators in health fields.

The questionnaires are based on the MICS model questionnaires and modified to fit the Ghanaian survey standards and conditions. The questionnaires were pre-tested in the Greater Accra Region in June 2006. The training for the pre-test was conducted by GSS staff for 22 interviewers for 13 days. This was followed by the formation of four teams consisting of a supervisor and four interviewers that conducted the pilot survey in four selected localities (2 urban and 2 rural) in the same region to test the entirety of survey procedures. Based on the results of the pre-test and pilot, further modifications were made to wording and flow of the questions and the survey plan. A copy of MICS 2006 questionnaires is provided in Appendix F.

In addition to the administration of questionnaires, fieldwork teams tested the salt used for cooking in the households for iodine level, and measured the heights and weights of all children less than 5 years (0-59 months).

Survey objectives The MICS is part of a worldwide survey program, originally developed to measure progress towards an internationally agreed set of goals that emerged from the 1990 World Summit for Children. The MICS 2006 has the following primary objectives:

§ To provide up-to-date information for assessing the health situation of women and children in Ghana; § To present the current level of knowledge and behavioural indicators regarding HIV/AIDS and malaria; § To furnish data needed for monitoring progress toward the Millennium Development Goals, and the goals of A World Fit for Children (WFFC) as a basis for future action; such as the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). § To contribute to the formation of baselines for the GPRS II and the Ministry of Health (MoH) Plan of Work 2007-2011, and to provide progress monitoring for other policies and programmes in Ghana; § To contribute to the improvement of data and monitoring systems in Ghana and to strengthen technical expertise in the design, implementation, and analysis of such systems.

This report is based on the Ghana Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, conducted in 2006 by Ghana Statistical Service and the Ministry of Health. The survey provides valuable information on the situation of women, men and children in Ghana. It was based largely on the need to monitor progress towards goals and targets emanating from recent international agreements, the Millennium Declaration, adopted by all 191 United Nations Member States in September 2000 and the Plan of Action of A World Fit for Children, adopted by 189 Member States at the United Nations Special Session on Children in May 2002.

Content Four sets of questionnaires were used in the survey to solicit the appropriate responses: § ·household questionnaire which was used to collect information on all de jure household members, and dwelling, and household characteristics and to identify eligible individuals; § ·women's questionnaire administered in each household to all women aged 15-49 years; § men's questionnaire administered in every third selected household to all men aged 15-49 years; § ·under-5 questionnaire, administered to mothers or caretakers of all children under five years living in the household.

The questionnaires included the following modules: § Household Questionnaire: § Household Listing § Education § Water and Sanitation § Durability of Housing § Malaria-related questions § Child Labour § Child Discipline § Disability § Salt Iodization

Women Questionnaire: § Child Mortality § Tetanus Toxoid § Maternal and Newborn Health § Marriage and Union § Security of Tenure § Contraception § Attitudes towards Domestic Violence § Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting § Sexual Behaviour § HIV knowledge Men Questionnaire: § Marriage and Union § Sexual Behaviour § Contraception § HIV/AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) Under-five Questionnaire: § Birth Registration and Early Learning § Child Development § Vitamin A § Breastfeeding § Care of Illness § Malaria § Immunization § Anthropometry

Geographic coverage

National Regional

Analysis unit

Individuals

Universe

1. All women age 15-49 years
2. All men age 15-49 years
3. All children under 5 years
4. All househld members

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Sample Design

The sample for the MICS 2006 was designed to provide estimates on a large number of indicators of the health status of women, men, and children at the national level, for urban and rural areas, as well as for the 10 administrative regions in the country. A representative probability sample of 6,302 households was selected nationwide. The list of enumeration areas (EAs) from the Ghana Living Standards Survey 5 (GLSS5) served as a frame for the MICS sample. The frame was first stratified into the 10 administrative regions in the country, then into urban and rural EAs. 660 EAs {-281 urban and 379 rural}

1) Twenty households per EA were selected 2) 25 per EA for rural EAs in Northern, Upper East and Upper West. 3) All women aged 15-49 and children less than 60 months in these selected households were eligible for interview. 4) Males in every selected third household aged 15-49 were also eligible for interview. 5) This is different from DHS whereby males aged 15-59 are eligible for interview.

The MICS 2006 used a two-stage stratified sample design. At the first stage of sampling, 300 census enumeration areas (124 urban and 176 rural EAs) were selected. These are a sub-sample of the 660 EAs (281 urban and 379 rural) selected for the GLSS 5 and fisheries. The clusters in each region were selected using systematic sampling with probability proportional to their size. The distribution of EAs between regions is not proportional to the 2000 Population and Housing Census, mainly due to over-sampling in the number of EAs for Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions.

A complete household listing exercise covering all the GLSS 5 EAs was carried out in May through July 2005 with a few selected EAs listed early 2006. At the second stage, a systematic sampling of households was selected based on this list. The MICS households were selected systematically from the household listing provided by GLSS 5 after eliminating from the list households previously selected by the GLSS 5 (15 regular with 5 replacement). The reason for selecting different households is that the GLSS 5 interviews are long and demanding for respondents. It therefore seemed preferable to keep the two household samples separate in order to avoid respondent fatigue and possible high rates of refusal in the households falling in both samples as they were being conducted concurrently. For the MICS, 20 households per EA were selected in all the regions except in Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions, where 20 households per EA were selected in urban EAs and 25 households selected from rural EAs. The objective of this exercise was to ensure an adequate number of complete interviews to provide estimates for important population characteristics with acceptable statistical precision per region. Due to the disproportional number of EAs and different sample sizes selected per EA among regions, the MICS 2006 household sample is not self-weighting at the national level. For reporting national level results, sample weights are used. A more detailed description of the sample design can be found in Appendix A.

Sample Size and Sample Allocation

The sample size for MICS 2006 was calculated as 6,300 households using basically the same sample of clusters selected for DHS 2003, as well as for similar sample size. The resulting number of households from this exercise was a minimum of about 500 (except for Upper West Region) households which is the sample size needed in each region - thus yielding about 6,500 in total. The average cluster size in MICS 2006 was determined as 20 households (except in rural clusters in Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions with 25 households) based on a number of considerations, including the budget available, and the time that would be needed per team to complete one cluster. Dividing the total number of households by the number of households per cluster, it was calculated that the selection of a minimum of about 25 clusters would be needed in each region.

The allocation of the total sample size to each of the ten regions follows almost same allocation than the DHS 2003. Therefore, a minimum of 25 clusters were allocated to each region, with the final sample size calculated at 6,300 households and 300 clusters in total. In each region, the clusters (primary sampling units) were distributed to urban and rural domains, proportional to the size of urban and rural populations in that region. The

Abstract

The 1996 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) is a nationally representative survey conducted by the Central Statistical Office at the request of the Ministry of Health, with the aim of gathering reliable information on fertility, childhood and maternal mortality rates, maternal and child health indicators, contraceptive knowledge and use, and knowledge and prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including AIDS. The survey is a follow-up to the Zambia DHS survey carried out in 1992.

The primary objectives of the ZDHS are: - To collect up-to-date information on fertility, infant and child mortality and family planning; - To collect information on health-related matters such as breastfeeding, antenatal care, children's immunisations and childhood diseases; - To assess the nutritional status of mothers and children; iv) To support dissemination and utilisation of the results in planning, managing and improving family planning and health services in the country; and - To enhance the survey capabilities of the institutions involved in order to facilitate the implementation of surveys of this type in the future.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

FERTILITY

• Fertility Trends. The 1996 ZDHS survey results indicate that the level of fertility in Zambia is continuing to decline.
• Fertility Differentials. Some women are apparently leading the fertility decline. Moreover, women who have received some secondary education have the lowest level of fertility.
• Age at First Birth. Childbearing begins early in Zambia, with over one-third of women becoming mothers by the time they reach age 18 and around two-thirds having had a child by the time they reach age 20.
• Birth Intervals. The majority of Zambian children (81 percent) are born after a "safe" birth interval (24 or more months apart), with 36 percent born at least 36 months after a prior birth. Nevertheless, 19 percent of non-first births occur less than 24 months after the preceding birth. The overall median birth interval is 32 months.
• Fertility Preferences. Survey data indicate that there is a strong desire for children and a preference for large families in Zambian society.
• Unplanned Fertility. Despite the increasing level of contraceptive use, ZDHS data indicate that unplanned pregnancies are still common.

FAMILY PLANNING

• Increasing Use of Contraception. The contraceptive prevalence rate in Zambia has increased significantly over the past five years, rising from 15 percent in 1992 to 26 percent in 1996.
• Differentials in Family Planning Use. Differentials in current use of family planning by province are large.
• Source of Contraception. Six in ten users obtain their methods from public sources, while 24 percent use non-governmental medical sources and shops and friends account for the remaining 13 percent. Government health centres (41 percent) and government hospitals (16 percent) are the most common sources of contraceptive methods.
• Knowledge of Contraceptive Methods. Knowledge of contraceptive methods is nearly universal, with 96 percent of all women and men knowing at least one method of family planning.
• Family Planning Messages. One reason for the increase in level of contraceptive awareness is that family planning messages are prevalent.
• Unmet Need for Family Planning. ZDHS data show that there is a considerable unmet need for family planning services in Zambia.

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH

• Maternal Health Care. ZDHS data show some encouraging results regarding maternal health care, as well as to some areas in which improvements could be made. Results show that most Zambian mothers receive antenatal care, 3 percent from a doctor and 93 percent from a nurse or trained midwife.
• High Childhood Mortality. One of the more disturbing findings from the survey is that child survival has not improved over the past few years.
• Childhood Vaccination Coverage. Vaccination coverage against the most common childhood illnesses has increased recently.
• Childhood Health. ZDHS data indicate that Zambian mothers are reasonably well-informed about childhood illnesses and that a high proportion are treated appropriately.
• Breastfeeding Practices. The ZDHS results indicate that breastfeeding is almost universally practised in Zambia, with a median duration of 20 months.
• Knowledge and Behaviour Regarding AIDS. Survey results indicate that virtually all respondents had heard of AIDS. Common sources of information were friends/relatives, the radio, and health workers. The vast majority of respondents--80 percent of women and 94 percent of men--say they have changed their behaviour in order to avoid contracting AIDS, mostly by restricting themselves to one sexual partner.

Geographic coverage

The 1996 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) is a nationally representative survey. The sample was designed to produce reliable estimates for the country as a whole, for the urban and the rural areas separately, and for each of the nine provinces in the country.

Analysis unit

• Household
• women age 15-49
• Men age 15-59
• Children under five years

Universe

The survey covered all de jure household members (usual residents), all women of reproductive age, aged 15-49 years in the total sample of households, men aged 15-59 and Children under age 5 resident in the household.

Kind of data

Sample survey data

Sampling procedure

The 1996 ZDHS covered the population residing in private households in the country. The design for the ZDHS called for a representative probability sample of approximately 8,000 completed individual interviews with women between the ages of 15 and 49. It is designed principally to produce reliable estimates for the country as a whole, for the urban and the rural areas separately, and for each of the nine provinces in the country. In addition to the sample of women, a sub-sample of about 2,000 men between the ages of 15 and 59 was also designed and selected to allow for the study of AIDS knowledge and other topics.

SAMPLING FRAME

Zambia is divided administratively into nine provinces and 57 districts. For the Census of Population, Housing and Agriculture of 1990, the whole country was demarcated into census supervisory areas (CSAs). Each CSA was in turn divided into standard enumeration areas (SEAs) of approximately equal size. For the 1992 ZDHS, this frame of about 4,200 CSAs and their corresponding SEAs served as the sampling frame. The measure of size was the number of households obtained during a quick count operation carried out in 1987. These same CSAs and SEAs were later updated with new measures of size which are the actual numbers of households and population figures obtained in the census. The sample for the 1996 ZDHS was selected from this updated CSA and SEA frame.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AMPLE

The sample for ZDHS was selected in three stages. At the first stage, 312 primary sampling units corresponding to the CSAs were selected from the frame of CSAs with probability proportional to size, the size being the number of households obtained from the 1990 census. At the second stage, one SEA was selected, again with probability proportional to size, within each selected CSA. An updating of the maps as well as a complete listing of the households in the selected SEAs was carried out. The list of households obtained was used as the frame for the third-stage sampling in which households were selected for interview. Women between the ages of 15 and 49 were identified in these households and interviewed. Men between the ages of 15 and 59 were also interviewed, but only in one-fourth of the households selected for the women's survey.

SAMPLE ALLOCATION

The provinces, stratified by urban and rural areas, were the sampling strata. There were thus 18 strata. The proportional allocation would result in a completely self-weighting sample but would not allow for reliable estimates for at least three of the nine provinces, namely Luapula, North-Western and Western. Results of other demographic and health surveys show that a minimum sample of 800-1,000 women is required in order to obtain estimates of fertility and childhood mortality rates at an acceptable level of sampling errors. It was decided to allocate a sample of 1,000 women to each of the three largest provinces, and a sample of 800 women to the two smallest provinces. The remaining provinces got samples of 850 women. Within each province, the sample was distributed approximately proportionally to the urban and rural areas.

STRATIFICATION AND SYSTEMATIC SELECTION OF CLUSTERS

A cluster is the ultimate area unit retained in the survey. In the 1992 ZDHS and the 1996 ZDHS, the cluster corresponds exactly to an SEA selected from the CSA that contains it. In order to decrease sampling errors of comparisons over time between 1992 and 1996--it was decided that as many as possible of the 1992 clusters be retained. After carefully examining the 262 CSAs that were included in the 1992 ZDHS, locating them in the updated frame and verifying their SEA composition, it was decided to retain 213 CSAs (and their corresponding SEAs). This amounted to almost 70 percent of the new sample. Only 99 new CSAs and their corresponding SEAs were selected.

As in the 1992 ZDHS, stratification of the CSAs was only geographic. In each stratum, the CSAs were listed by districts ordered geographically. The procedure for selecting CSAs in each stratum consisted of: (1) calculating the sampling interval for the stratum: (2) calculating the cumulated size of each CSA; (3) calculating the series of sampling numbers R, R+I, R+21, .... R+(a-1)l, where R is a random number between 1 and 1; (4) comparing each sampling number with the cumulated sizes.

The reasons for not

In 2021, the birth rate in the United States was highest in families that had under 10,000 U.S. dollars in income per year, at 62.75 births per 1,000 women. As the income scale increases, the birth rate decreases, with families making 200,000 U.S. dollars or more per year having the second-lowest birth rate, at 47.57 births per 1,000 women. Income and the birth rate Income and high birth rates are strongly linked, not just in the United States, but around the world. Women in lower income brackets tend to have higher birth rates across the board. There are many factors at play in birth rates, such as the education level of the mother, ethnicity of the mother, and even where someone lives. The fertility rate in the United States The fertility rate in the United States has declined in recent years, and it seems that more and more women are waiting longer to begin having children. Studies have shown that the average age of the mother at the birth of their first child in the United States was 27.4 years old, although this figure varies for different ethnic origins.

The average American family in 2023 consisted of 3.15 persons. Families in the United States According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a family is a group of two people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together; all such people (including related subfamily members) are considered as members of one family. As of 2023, the U.S. Census Bureau counted about 84.33 million families in the United States. The average family consisted of 3.15 persons in 2021, down from 3.7 in the 1960s. This is reflected in the decrease of children in family households overall. In 1970, about 56 percent of all family households had children under the age of 18 living in the household. This percentage declined to about 40 percent in 2020. The average size of a family household varies greatly from state to state. The largest average families can be found in Utah, California, and Hawaii, while the smallest families can be found in Wisconsin, Vermont and Maine.

Millennials were the largest generation group in the United States in 2024, with an estimated population of ***** million. Born between 1981 and 1996, Millennials recently surpassed Baby Boomers as the biggest group, and they will continue to be a major part of the population for many years. The rise of Generation Alpha Generation Alpha is the most recent to have been named, and many group members will not be able to remember a time before smartphones and social media. As of 2024, the oldest Generation Alpha members were still only aging into adolescents. However, the group already makes up around ***** percent of the U.S. population, and they are said to be the most racially and ethnically diverse of all the generation groups. Boomers vs. Millennials The number of Baby Boomers, whose generation was defined by the boom in births following the Second World War, has fallen by around ***** million since 2010. However, they remain the second-largest generation group, and aging Boomers are contributing to steady increases in the median age of the population. Meanwhile, the Millennial generation continues to grow, and one reason for this is the increasing number of young immigrants arriving in the United States.