Since the mid-2000s, the average age at first wedding in France has increased gradually, for both men and women. It seems to be common for the first marriage to be celebrated later and later in Western countries. For example, the median age at first marriage in the United States went from **** years old for males and ** years old for females in 1998, up to **** years old for males and **** for females in 2022. The same thing occurred in Europe, where Spain was the country where the median age at first wedding was the oldest in 2022. French people wait longer to marry According to the source, in 2004, the average age at first wedding for French men was **** compared to **** for women. If men still tend to be older than women at first marriage, the average age at marriage for both males and females increased from 2004 to 2024. In 2024, men were on average **** at their first wedding, compared to **** for women. Most marriages in France happened between men and women, despite the implementation of same-sex marriage in 2013. The mean age at gay marriages appears to be even older than in different-sex weddings. Marriage and divorce in France Thus, the percentage of married persons in France has decreased since 2006, while the share of single and divorced people rose. However, in 2016, France was the second European country with the highest number of marriages behind Germany. On the other hand, like most other Western nations, France also has a high divorce rate. In 2016, the number of French divorces was ** per 100 marriages.

Mean age of men and women when they get married for the first time.

Mean age at first marriage of women aged 20-50 in region

This graph displays the mean age of women at first marriage in European countries in 2014. In this year the oldest mean age at first marriage for females emerged from Sweden at **** years. This was followed by Spain and Denmark, at **** and **** years respectively.

Colombia CO: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data was reported at 23.400 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 23.000 % for 2010. Colombia CO: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 23.100 % from Dec 1986 (Median) to 2015, with 7 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 25.600 % in 1995 and a record low of 21.400 % in 2000. Colombia CO: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Colombia – Table CO.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Women who were first married by age 18 refers to the percentage of women ages 20-24 who were first married by age 18.;UNICEF Data; Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), AIDS Indicator Surveys(AIS), Reproductive Health Survey(RHS), and other household surveys.;;This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 5.3.1[https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

Age at First Marriage in America

The Effect of Population Density

By Andy Kriebel [source]

About this dataset

This dataset contains information on the median age at first marriage for women in the United States. The data is broken down by county, and includes information on population density, FIPS code, and county type

How to use the dataset

This dataset contains information on the age at first marriage for women in the United States. The data is broken down by state, county, and year. To use this dataset, you can choose to either download the entire dataset or select specific states, counties, and years of interest. If you select specific states, counties, and years of interest, be sure to filter the data accordingly

Research Ideas

To find out which states have the oldest or youngest median ages at first marriage. To understand how population density may affect the median age at first marriage. To compare the median age at first marriage across different types of counties

Acknowledgements

Data Source

License

License: Dataset copyright by authors - You are free to: - Share - copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially. - Adapt - remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. - You must: - Give appropriate credit - Provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. - ShareAlike - You must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. - Keep intact - all notices that refer to this license, including copyright notices.

Columns

File: Median Age at First Marriage .csv | Column name | Description | |:---------------------------------|:---------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FIPS | The Federal Information Processing Standard code for each county. (String) | | Name | The name of the county. (String) | | Type | The type of county. (String) | | TimeFrame | The timeframe of the data. (String) | | Median Age | The median age at first marriage for women in the county. (Float) | | Population Density per Sq Mi | The population density of the county. (Float) |

Acknowledgements

If you use this dataset in your research, please credit Andy Kriebel.

Thailand TH: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data was reported at 22.100 % in 2012. This records an increase from the previous number of 19.600 % for 2006. Thailand TH: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 20.500 % from Dec 1987 (Median) to 2012, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 22.100 % in 2012 and a record low of 19.600 % in 2006. Thailand TH: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Thailand – Table TH.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Women who were first married by age 18 refers to the percentage of women ages 20-24 who were first married by age 18.; ; Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), AIDS Indicator Surveys(AIS), Reproductive Health Survey(RHS), and other household surveys.; ;

Vietnam VN: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data was reported at 10.600 % in 2014. This records an increase from the previous number of 9.300 % for 2011. Vietnam VN: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 10.500 % from Dec 1997 (Median) to 2014, with 6 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 12.400 % in 1997 and a record low of 9.300 % in 2011. Vietnam VN: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Vietnam – Table VN.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Women who were first married by age 18 refers to the percentage of women ages 20-24 who were first married by age 18.; ; Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), AIDS Indicator Surveys(AIS), Reproductive Health Survey(RHS), and other household surveys.; ;

Turkey Vital Statistics: Marriage Age: Avg: Female data was reported at 26.247 Year in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 26.087 Year for 2016. Turkey Vital Statistics: Marriage Age: Avg: Female data is updated yearly, averaging 22.900 Year from Dec 1940 (Median) to 2017, with 78 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 26.247 Year in 2017 and a record low of 20.800 Year in 1975. Turkey Vital Statistics: Marriage Age: Avg: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Turkish Statistical Institute. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Turkey – Table TR.G003: Vital Statistics.

Context

This dataset combines key health statistics from a variety of sources to provide a look at global health and population trends. It includes information on nutrition, reproductive health, education, immunization, and diseases from over 200 countries

Sample Query

What’s the average age of first marriages for females around the world? This query retrieves the average age of first marriages for females by country. Females are used because there is a larger age spread in first marriages for females

SELECT country_name, ROUND(AVG(value),2) AS average FROM bigquery-public-data.world_bank_health_population.health_nutrition_population WHERE indicator_code = "SP.DYN.SMAM.FE" AND year > 2000 GROUP BY country_name ORDER BY average

Tunisia TN: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data was reported at 1.600 % in 2012. This records a decrease from the previous number of 9.700 % for 1988. Tunisia TN: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 5.650 % from Dec 1988 (Median) to 2012, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 9.700 % in 1988 and a record low of 1.600 % in 2012. Tunisia TN: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Tunisia – Table TN.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Women who were first married by age 18 refers to the percentage of women ages 20-24 who were first married by age 18.; ; Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), AIDS Indicator Surveys(AIS), Reproductive Health Survey(RHS), and other household surveys.; ;

The mean age at first marriage in Spain was, along with Sweden, one of the highest in the European Union. Based on this setup, it is no wonder that the Spanish autonomous communities featured quite elevated numbers - particularly in the Canary Islands, where the average age at first marriage stood at over 41 years old for men and over ** for women in 2023. Easy come easy go Marriage might be undergoing a declining popularity among Spaniards, or so it would seem by its national (heterosexual) marriage figures, which have experienced a slight decrease overtime. In 2023, the Balearic Islands recording the highest numbers on the list of marriage rate in Spain, with a rate of **** marriages per 1,000 people. Moreover, Spain has one of the highest divorce rates in Europe, with **** divorces per 100 marriages carried out in this country in 2020. Ageing: a common problem across the continent The age at first marriage is not the only digit that is on the rise in Spain. Data related to age in the Mediterranean country essentially behaves in a similar fashion as the rest of its European counterparts, whose population is also slowly but surely getting older. In 2023, the life expectancy at birth in Spain stood at ***** years, one of the highest in the world.

Singapore Median Age of Grooms: First Marriages: Under Women's Charter data was reported at 30.500 Year Old in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 30.800 Year Old for 2016. Singapore Median Age of Grooms: First Marriages: Under Women's Charter data is updated yearly, averaging 28.100 Year Old from Dec 1961 (Median) to 2017, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 30.800 Year Old in 2016 and a record low of 26.500 Year Old in 1975. Singapore Median Age of Grooms: First Marriages: Under Women's Charter data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Department of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Singapore – Table SG.G007: Vital Statistics: Marriages & Divorces.

Egypt EG: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data was reported at 17.400 % in 2014. This records an increase from the previous number of 16.600 % for 2008. Egypt EG: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 19.000 % from Dec 1988 (Median) to 2014, with 8 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 30.500 % in 1988 and a record low of 16.600 % in 2008. Egypt EG: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Egypt – Table EG.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Women who were first married by age 18 refers to the percentage of women ages 20-24 who were first married by age 18.; ; Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), AIDS Indicator Surveys(AIS), Reproductive Health Survey(RHS), and other household surveys.; ;

As per the results of a survey among rural and urban Indian households about the average age of marriage in *******, the average age of males at marriage was about 26 years old, while for women, it was about 22 years in rural areas.

Age of marriage   

To prevent child marriages and abuse of minors, the Indian law prescribes a minimum age of marriage for men and women at ** and **, respectively. Many campaigns and counselling programs are carried out to empower young girls and provide education and awareness so that that they are not influenced into marriage early in their lives.

Arranged marriage

Most marriages in India are arranged by the families. Traditionally, for the purpose of marriage, a marriage broker would be approached by the respective families seeking partner for their children. In recent years, online matrimony services that provides both matchmaking and marriage services globally has gained popularity with increasing numbers of registered users.

Singapore Median Age of Brides: Total Marriages: Under Women's Charter data was reported at 29.300 Year Old in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 29.200 Year Old for 2016. Singapore Median Age of Brides: Total Marriages: Under Women's Charter data is updated yearly, averaging 25.500 Year Old from Dec 1961 (Median) to 2017, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 29.300 Year Old in 2017 and a record low of 23.300 Year Old in 1971. Singapore Median Age of Brides: Total Marriages: Under Women's Charter data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Department of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Singapore – Table SG.G007: Vital Statistics: Marriages & Divorces.

Abstract

The 1993 National Demographic Survey (NDS) is a nationally representative sample survey of women age 15-49 designed to collect information on fertility; family planning; infant, child and maternal mortality; and maternal and child health. The survey was conducted between April and June 1993. The 1993 NDS was carried out by the National Statistics Office in collaboration with the Department of Health, the University of the Philippines Population Institute, and other agencies concerned with population, health and family planning issues. Funding for the 1993 NDS was provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development through the Demographic and Health Surveys Program.

Close to 13,000 households throughout the country were visited during the survey and more than 15,000 women age 15-49 were interviewed. The results show that fertility in the Philippines continues its gradual decline. At current levels, Filipino women will give birth on average to 4.1 children during their reproductive years, 0.2 children less than that recorded in 1988. However, the total fertility rate in the Philippines remains high in comparison to the level achieved in the neighboring Southeast Asian countries.

The primary objective of the 1993 NDS is to provide up-to-date inform ation on fertility and mortality levels; nuptiality; fertility preferences; awareness, approval, and use of family planning methods; breastfeeding practices; and maternal and child health. This information is intended to assist policymakers and administrators in evaluating and designing programs and strategies for improving health and family planning services in 'the country.

MAIN RESULTS

Fertility varies significantly by region and socioeconomic characteristics. Urban women have on average 1.3 children less than rural women, and uneducated women have one child more than women with college education. Women in Bicol have on average 3 more children than women living in Metropolitan Manila.

Virtually all women know of a family planning method; the pill, female sterilization, IUD and condom are known to over 90 percent of women. Four in 10 married women are currently using contraception. The most popular method is female sterilization ( 12 percent), followed by the piU (9 percent), and natural family planning and withdrawal, both used by 7 percent of married women.

Contraceptive use is highest in Northern Mindanao, Central Visayas and Southern Mindanao, in urban areas, and among women with higher than secondary education. The contraceptive prevalence rate in the Philippines is markedly lower than in the neighboring Southeast Asian countries; the percentage of married women who were using family planning in Thailand was 66 percent in 1987, and 50 percent in Indonesia in 199l.

The majority of contraceptive users obtain their methods from a public service provider (70 percent). Government health facilities mainly provide permanent methods, while barangay health stations or health centers are the main sources for the pill, IUD and condom.

Although Filipino women already marry at a relatively higher age, they continue to delay the age at which they first married. Half of Filipino women marry at age 21.6. Most women have their first sexual intercourse after marriage.

Half of married women say that they want no more children, and 12 percent have been sterilized. An additional 19 percent want to wait at least two years before having another child. Almost two thirds of women in the Philippines express a preference for having 3 or less children. Results from the survey indicate that if all unwanted births were avoided, the total fertility rate would be 2.9 children, which is almost 30 percent less than the observed rate,

More than one quarter of married women in the Philippines are not using any contraceptive method, but want to delay their next birth for two years or more (12 percent), or want to stop childbearing (14 percent). If the potential demand for family planning is satisfied, the contraceptive prevalence rate could increase to 69 percent. The demand for stopping childbearing is about twice the level for spacing (45 and 23 percent, respectively).

Information on various aspects of maternal and child health---antenatal care, vaccination, breastfeeding and food supplementation, and illness was collected in the 1993 NDS on births in the five years preceding the survey. The findings show that 8 in 10 children under five were bom to mothers who received antenatal care from either midwives or nurses (45 percent) or doctors (38 percent). Delivery by a medical personnel is received by more than half of children born in the five years preceding the survey. However, the majority of deliveries occurred at home.

Tetanus, a leading cause of infant deaths, can be prevented by immunization of the mother during pregnancy. In the Philippines, two thirds of bitlhs in the five years preceding the survey were to mothers who received a tetanus toxoid injection during pregnancy.

Based on reports of mothers and information obtained from health cards, 90 percent of children aged 12-23 months have received shots of the BCG as well as the first doses of DPT and polio, and 81 percent have received immunization from measles. Immunization coverage declines with doses; the drop out rate is 3 to 5 percent for children receiving the full dose series of DPT and polio. Overall, 7 in 10 children age 12-23 months have received immunization against the six principal childhood diseases---polio, diphtheria, ~rtussis, tetanus, measles and tuberculosis.

During the two weeks preceding the survey, 1 in 10 children under 5 had diarrhea. Four in ten of these children were not treated. Among those who were treated, 27 percent were given oral rehydration salts, 36 percent were given recommended home solution or increased fluids.

Breasffeeding is less common in the Philippines than in many other developing countries. Overall, a total of 13 percent of children born in the 5 years preceding the survey were not breastfed at all. On the other hand, bottle feeding, a widely discouraged practice, is relatively common in the Philippines. Children are weaned at an early age; one in four children age 2-3 months were exclusively breastfed, and the mean duration of breastfeeding is less than 3 months.

Infant and child mortality in the Philippines have declined significantly in the past two decades. For every 1,000 live births, 34 infants died before their first birthday. Childhood mortality varies significantly by mother's residence and education. The mortality of urban infants is about 40 percent lower than that of rural infants. The probability of dying among infants whose mother had no formal schooling is twice as high as infants whose mother have secondary or higher education. Children of mothers who are too young or too old when they give birth, have too many prior births, or give birth at short intervals have an elevated mortality risk. Mortality risk is highest for children born to mothers under age 19.

The 1993 NDS also collected information necessary for the calculation of adult and maternal mortality using the sisterhood method. For both males and females, at all ages, male mortality is higher than that of females. Matemal mortality ratio for the 1980-1986 is estimated at 213 per 100,000 births, and for the 1987-1993 period 209 per 100,000 births. However, due to the small number of sibling deaths reported in the survey, age-specific rates should be used with caution.

Information on health and family planning services available to the residents of the 1993 NDS barangay was collected from a group of respondents in each location. Distance and time to reach a family planning service provider has insignificant association with whether a woman uses contraception or the choice of contraception being used. On the other hand, being close to a hospital increases the likelihood that antenatal care and births are to respondents who receive ANC and are delivered by a medical personnel or delivered in a health facility.

Geographic coverage

National. The main objective of the 1993 NDS sample is to allow analysis to be carried out for urban and rural areas separately, for 14 of the 15 regions in the country. Due to the recent formation of the 15th region, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the sample did not allow for a separate estimate for this region.

Analysis unit

• Household
• Women age 15-49

Universe

The population covered by the 1993 Phillipines NDS is defined as the universe of all females age 15-49 years, who are members of the sample household or visitors present at the time of interview and had slept in the sample households the night prior to the time of interview, regardless of marital status.

Kind of data

Sample survey data

Sampling procedure

The main objective of the 1993 National Demographic Survey (NDS) sample is to provide estimates with an acceptable precision for sociodemographics characteristics, like fertility, family planning, health and mortality variables and to allow analysis to be carried out for urban and rural areas separately, for 14 of the 15 regions in the country. Due to the recent formation of the 15th region, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the sample did not allow for a separate estimate for this region.

The sample is nationally representative with a total size of about 15,000 women aged 15 to 49. The Integrated Survey of Households (ISH) was used as a frame. The ISH was developed in 1980, and was comprised of samples of primary sampling units (PSUs) systematically selected and with a probability proportional to size in each of the 14 regions. The PSUs were reselected in 1991, using the 1990 Population Census data on

Niger has the highest child marriage rate in the world among girls. According to the most recent data, in this West African country, more than three-fourths of girls aged under 18 were married, with nearly 30 percent of them being younger than 15 years old. The Central African Republic, Chad, and Mali followed behind with rates ranging from 61 to 54 percent. This issue is globally spread, particularly in African countries. In many of these countries, the legal age to get married is lower for females than for males. In Niger and Chad, for instance, the legal age is 15 years for females and 18 for males. In Guinea, instead, the legal age for marriage is 17 for females and 18 for males. Child marriage is often related to poverty, with poor families choosing to marry away their girls, both to earn money as a wedding gift and as this means fewer mouths to feed.

Liberia LR: Women Who were First Married by Age 15: % of Women Aged 20-24 data was reported at 8.800 % in 2013. This records a decrease from the previous number of 10.800 % for 2007. Liberia LR: Women Who were First Married by Age 15: % of Women Aged 20-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 10.800 % from Dec 1986 (Median) to 2013, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 16.600 % in 1986 and a record low of 8.800 % in 2013. Liberia LR: Women Who were First Married by Age 15: % of Women Aged 20-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Liberia – Table LR.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Women who were first married by age 15 refers to the percentage of women ages 20-24 who were first married by age 15.; ; Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS); ;

Abstract

This survey is part of a fertility survey series conducted in the 1970s and 1980s, covering contraceptives, reproductive health, breastfeeding and complete birth histories.Currently housed by Princeton, these surveys were originally done under the auspices of the International Statistical Institute from the 70s to the early 80s.

Between October 1981 and August 1982, a World Fertility Survey (WFS) was conducted in Nigeria, the most populated country in Africa. Nigeria has a population of 93.7 million (1984) and an estimated growth rate of 3.0%-3.5% WFS findings indicate that current conditions in Nigeria are conducive to continued rapid population growth in the future. These conditions include high fertility, strong pronatalist attitudes, an increase in the proportion of young people in the population, a low level of contraceptive knowledge and use, high infant and child mortality rates, and a decrease in breastfeeding duration and in postpartum sexual abstinence duration among urban and educated women. In the survey information was collected from a sample of 8623 households and from 9727 women of reproductive age residing in those households. These completed interviews represented a 93.4 response rate for the households and a 96.0% response rate for the individual women. 56.1% of the households were occupied by a nuclear family, 23.6% were occupied by an extended family, and 20.3% contained no married couples. Mean household size was 5.09 in urban areas and 5.83 in rural areas. Housing conditions were relatively poor in both rural and urban areas. 83.5% of the surveyed women were ever married. Marriage was almost universal; only 0.6% of the women aged 44-49 never married. Marriages were relatively stable, and those who divorced tended to promplty remarry. Preliminary analysis indicates that the age at marriage may be decreasing. The mean age at 1st marriage was 16.0 years for women aged 25-29 and 17.7 years for women aged 40-44. 42.6% of the currently married women were in polynous unions, and the mean age difference between husbands and wives was 12.56 years. 77.4% of the interviewed women were illiterate, 77.4% resided in rural areas, 35.0% were currently not working, 45.9% were Muslim, and 44.9% were Christian. Among all the surveyed women, the mean number of children ever born was 3.07. Women aged 45-49 had a mean of 5.84 ever born children. The total fertility rate for the 5-year period preceding the study was 6.34, and the total fertility rate for ever married women was 7.48. Women with secondary or higher educations had lower fertility than women with less education; however, women with primary schooling only had higher fertility than those with no schooling. Urban and rural fertility differences were small, but there were marked regional differences in fertility patterns. Preliminary analysis indicates that fertility increased between the early 1960s and mid-1970s, but declined slightly since then. Only 5% of the surveyed women wanted no more children, and average desired family size among currently married and fecund women was 8.3 children. Although infant and child mortality declined in recent years, the respective rates were still 84.8 and 144.5 for 1975-9. Among surveyed women, 66.3% had no knowledge of any contraceptive method. 85.9% never used any contraceptive method, 12.5% ever used an inefficient method (mainly postpartum abstinence), and only 2.6% ever used an efficient method. Only 0.7% of exposed women currently used an efficient contraceptive method. Breastfeeding is universal. Mean breastfeeding duration for the next to last child was 16.6 months. For ever married women, the mean duration of post partum amenorrhea in the last closed birth interval was 10.4 months, and the mean duration of sexual abstinence following the next to last birth was 14.1 months. The duration of both breastfeeding and postpartum sexual abstinence is shorter among educated and urban women than among rural and uneducated women.Source: Voorburg, Netherlands, International Statistical Institute, 1984 Sep. 18 p. (WFS Summary of Findings No. 49)

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

Households, Individuals

Universe

All women, 15-49

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The 250 enumeration areas (EAs)of the Nigeria Fertility Survey are a subsample of the EAs used for the National Demographic Sample Survey 1980. It was originally intended as a self-weighting sample but problems of implementation led to the abandoning of this. The final sample of size 9727 includes weights to allow for the unequal probabilities of selection. The household and individual interviews were conducted on the same visit by the same (female) interviewers.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The WFS Headquarters prepared survey documents for general guidance and use, principal among these being the survey instruments or questionnaires.

Two basic instruments were the Hosuehold schedule and the individual questionnaire for women. 1. The Household Questionnaire covered topics such as age, sex, marital status of household members 2. Individual questionnaire for women provides detailed information on maternity and marriage histories, contraceptive knowledge and use, and fertility regulation.

A husbands questionnaire and an individual core questionnaire for low fertility countries were also developed. Optional supplementary modules on : - Abortion - Community level variables - Economic questionnaires - Factors other than contaception affecting fertility (FOTCAF) - Family planning - Fertility regulation - General mortality

The FOTCAF module measures biological factors and traditional practices that affect fertility in countries with low levels of contraceptive use. It includes questions on the lengths of: breastfeeding, unsupplemented breastfeeding, postpartum amenorrhea, and postpartum abstinence. The WFS core questionnaire included a complete live birth history; questions on the respondent's age, characteristics, and contraceptive use; and a record of the dates of marriages and marriage dissolutions. For African countries, one or more questions were asked about polygyny. Also included were questions on whether a woman's husband had other wives, and all (except Ghana) asked wives in polygynous marriages about their rank (first wife, second wife, and so forth). Several countries also asked about the number of other wives in the marriage.

In the Nigeria survey, the WFS core questionnaire, the FOTCAF Module, as well as supplementary surveys for household members and community were used. The FOTCAF module was modified so that (a) information was gathered about live-birth rather than pregnancy intervals and (b) provision was made to record information about the third to last interval, if this interval started within the five years preceding the survey. The latter ammendment removes much of the selection bias inherent in the standard FOTCAF module which is restricted to the last and last-but-one intervals.

Also recorded in the survey are : Place of and assistance at delivery of recently born children ; the existence of grandsons and granddaughters of the respondent, as well as the age of oldest. The purpose of these data is to test the hypothesis that the attainment of grandmotherhood is associated with terminal abstinence. The community survey covers availability of facilities (post office, health services, police, courts, bank) and provision of services (water, electricity, fuel, transport, specified goods).

Response rate

These completed interviews represented a 93.4 response rate for the households and a 96.0% response rate for the individual women.