o 

FROM VITAL & HEALTH STATISTICS OF THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS 

US. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, ECUCATION, AND WELFARE I No. 9 August 10, 1977 I Public Health Service - Health Resources Administration 

Wanted and Unwanted Births Reported by Mothers 

15-44 Years of Age: United States, 1973a 

According to the results of a natiomd survey 

of households conducted in 1973 by the National Center for Health Statistics, one-fifth of all 

births (13.9 million out of 68.2 million) to 

mothers 15-44 years would not have occurred if 

these women had given birth onIy to those babies they reported as “W,anted’$ at the time of 

conception. These estimates are based on answers to direct questions about the “wontede ness” of each pregnancy that were asked during 

personal interviews with a sample of women 

aged 15-44 years who had ever been married or 

had children of their own living in the househoId.b These women participated in the National Survey of FamiIy Growth which is based on 

a multistage area-probability sample of households in the conterminous United States. The 

interviews for CycIe I of the survey were conducted during an 8-month period the midpoint 

of which was September 13, 1973. 

“Wanted” births are pregnancies resulting in 

at least one live birth that were reported as 

wanted or probably wanted prior to conception 

(see Teehnical Notes for the exact definition of 

these categories). On the other hand, “unwanted” births are pregnancies resulting in at 

least one live birth that were reported as not 

wanted or probably not wanted prior to conception. Pregnancies resulting in at least one live 

birth that were reported as neither wanted nor 

aPrepared by Martha Little Munson, M.S., Divz”a”onof 

Vital Statistics. 

b ,~chil~en ~f th&. ~m” does not include adopted 9 or foster children, or other children in the household 

who were not born to the woman interviewed. 

unwanted at the time of conception are classified as “undetermined” in these data. Pregnancies that did not result in at least one live birth 

(i.e., those that ended in miscarriage, stillbirth, 

or induced abortion) are excluded from this report. Although the word “birth” is used, wontedness is actually defined in relation to the 

pregnancy leading up to each birth. The questions asked in the interview focused on the time 

just before the woman became pregnant. This 

clearly distinguishes her desire for a baby before 

the pregnancy began from her later feeIings toward the chiId who was born. In particular, it is 

incorrect to conclude that “unwanted births” 

are the same as “unwanted children, ” for many 

unplanried or undesired pregnancies resuIt in 

children who are cherished. Because the figures 

presented are for pregnancies, not for births, 

multiple births such as twins and triplets have 

been counted only once since the multiple outcome presumably couId not affect the woman’s 

feelings about wontedness of the pregnancy at 

the time of its conception. It should be noted 

that the data on wanted and unwanted births 

presented in this report cannot be compared directly with data reported in previous fertility 

studies because different definitions of wontedness were used. This report is based on numbers 

of wanted and unwanted births, rather than on 

the number of women who have had an unwanted birth. The definition of wontedness is 

based solely on the woman’s responses to questions about her feelings and not those of her 

husband. A later report will make comparisons 

with previous studies using comparable definitions. 
2 admncedata 

o 

HIGHLIGHTS 

Table 1 shows that 4 out of every 5 births 

were reported by their mothers as wanted. But 

the 13.1 percent of births that were unwanted 

and the 7.3 percent of births for which the 

wontedness was undetermined together constitute 1 out of every 5 births to mothers aged 

15-44 years in 1973. The proportion of births 

reported as unwanted increased with age, starting with about 1 out of every 12 births to mothers 15-24 years and rising to nearly twice that 

proportion, or 1 out of every 7 births to mothers aged 35 years and over. The differences by 

race are even more striking— 1 in every 10 births 

to white mothers was reported as unwanted 

compared with 1 in every 4 births to h’egro 

mothers. Similarly, Negro mothers had twice as 

many undetermined births in proportion to 

white mothers, leaving only 7 wanted births to 

Negro mothers (58.9 percent) for every 10 

wanted births to white mothers (83.2 percent). 

The proportion of unwanted births increased 

as parity increased. While women with 3 children reported 1 out of every 10 births as unwanted, women with 5 children reported twice 

as many unwanted births, and women with 6 

children or more reported that 1 out of every 4 

births was unwanted. There were no significant 

differences in wontedness by region or between 

mothers of Spanish origin and all other mothers. 

Less education for both the woman and her current husband (if any) was associated with fewer 

wanted births. There was no significant difference in the proportion of wanted births between 

mothers in, and those out of, the labor force. 

However, mothers with family incomes below 

the poverty level had a strikingly lower proportion of wanted births (66 percent) than mothers 

with family incomes at least 50 percent above 

the poverty level (83.6 percent). The difference 

in the reporting of wanted births between Protestants and Catholics was not statistically significant. But Jewish women reported a significantly larger proportion of wanted births compared 

with Catholics, Protestants, and those reporting 

other religions or no religious preference. 

The proportion of unwanted births decreased from 3-in-1 O to 1-in-10 as desired family 

size (an alternative measure of the number of 

wanted births) increased from O to 4, with a 

slight increase in unwanted births for larger desired family sizes. Among women who had never 

been married but who had children of their own 

living in the household,’ the percentages of 

births reported as wanted and unwanted were 

significantly different from those reported by 

women who had been married at least once; 

only a little over half of the births to nevermarried mothers were reported as wanted. Between users and nonusers of contraception, 

there was no significant difference in the proportions of births reported as wanted or unwanted. 

But there was a marked difference in these proportions between those who were contracep ­

tively sterilized (either male or female) and 

those using other methods of family planning. 

Those using sterilization reported fewer wanted 

births than those using other methods by 7 to 

10 percentage points. 

The pattern of wontedness by age and parity 

varied considerably between white and Negro 

mothers. Table 1 shows that the difference between the highest and lowest categories of age in 9 

the proportions of births reported as not wanted 

was 7.1 percentage points. Table 2 shows that 

this difference was almost doubled (to 13.5 percent ) for Negro mothers, whereas it was virtually 

the same (7.2 percent) for white mothers. Looking at the pattern of unwanted births at the lowest and highest panty levels, table 1 shows a 

difference of 20.7 percentage points for all 

mothers. When this differential is examined by 

race, the difference shrinks to 16.3 percent for 

white mothers and expands to 24.7 percent for 

Negro mothers. Figure 1 shows the dramatic differences in the proportions of unwanted and undetermined births for white and Negro mothers 

and is helpful in identifying the specific groups 

that tend to have the largest proportions of unwanted births in the United States. 

The proportions of wanted and unwanted 

births also differed by the current marital status 

cAlthough the National Suxvey of Family Growth is 

predominantly a survey of ever-married women, it also 

includes families consisting of never-married mothers — 

and their child(ren) if they reside in the same household. 

Hence the term “mother” refers to women who have not ( — just borne a child but raised it as well. 
.......................

o ackmdaa3 

Figure 1. PERCENT OF PREGNANCIES RESULTING IN A LIVE BIRTH, BY WHETHER THEY WERE REPORTED AS 

UNWANTED OR UN DETERMI NED, BY RACE, AND PARITY: NATIONAL SURVEY OF FAMILY GROWTH, 1973 

60 — 

50 — 

40 — 

$


UI


g 30 —


E


20 — 

10 — 

o — 

;;i;;;i~;i;i Undetermined n.... .. ....

. 

Unwanted 

White Negro White Negro White Negro White Negro White Negro White Negro 

1 2 3 4 5 &­

PARITY (NUMBER OF LIVE BIRTHS) 

of women. A comparison of tabIes 1 and 3 and mothers of all marital statuses was found 

shows that the proportion of wanted births was among Negro women; there were 5 percentage 

2.6 percentage points higher for currently mar- points more wanted births and 4 percentage 

ried mothers included in the survey. The greatest points fewer unwanted births among the curdifference between currently married mothers rently married. 
4 acklncedata 

o 

Table 1. Number of mothers and of live births, and percent distribution of births, to mothers 15-44 years of age, by whether wanted, unwanted or undetermined, according to selected characteristics: United States, 1973 

Characteristic 

Total ............ ................................ 

Age group 

15-24 years ................. ....... ................... . 

25-29 years ............................................ 

30-34 years ............................................ 

35-39 years ....................................... ..... 

4044 years ................ ...... .. .................... 

Race 

White .......................... ........................... 

Nagro ......... ....... .......... ........................... 

Parity 

One live birth ... ........... ........................... 

Two live births .. ..................................... 

Three live births ..................................... 

Four live births ................ ...................... 

Five live births ....................................... 

Six live births or more ... ......................... 

Origin 

Spanish .... .......... .................................... 

All other ..... .................... ................. ...... 

Region 

Nomheast .............................................. . 

North Central .... ..................... ................ 

South ......................... .. .......................... 

West ................... .......................... ........ .. 

Woman’s education 

Less than high school ....... ....... ............... 

High school, 1-3 years ............................ 

High school, 4 years .............................. . 

College, 1-3 years ................................... 

Collega, 4 years or more ........................ 

Husband’s education 

Less than high school ............................. 

High school, 1-3 years ............................ 

High school, 4 years ................ ............... 

College, 1-3 years ................................... 

College, 4 years or more ......................... 

Number of Vumber of 

mothers in births in 

thousands thousands 

Percent distribution 

25,803 68,184 100.0 79.7 13.1 7.3 

4,375 6,542 100.0 81.9 8.3 9.8 

5,487 11,471 100.0 83.6 10.3 6.1 

5,617 15,469 100.0 80.5 12,1 7.4 

5,108 16,686 100.0 76.7 15.2 8.1 

5,216 18,015 100.0 78.3 15.4 6.2 

22,182 57,551 100.0 83.2 10.5 6.2 

3,359 9,984 100.0 58.9 27.9 13.2 

6,297 6,297 100.0 87.7 *5.1 7.2 � 

8,154 16,221 100.0 90.1 4.3 5.6 

5,458 16,238 100.0 83.0 10.7 6.3 

2,812 11,088 100.0 76.6 16.6 6.9 

1,510 7,429 100.0 72.0 20.1 8.0 

1,572 10,911 100.0 63.0 25.8 11.2 

1,900 5,501 100.0 76.4 13.7 10.0 

23,903 62,683 100.0 80.0 13.0 7.0 

5,406 14,032 100.0 80.9 12.0 7.1 

6,757 18,502 100.0 79.0 14.0 7.0 

8,500 21,771 100.0 79.1 13.3 7.6 

5,139 13,880 100.0 80.3 12.6 7.2 

2,622 9,123 100.0 72.6 16.5 10.9 

5,697 16,884 100.0 73.3 17.9 8.8 

12,161 29,917 100.0 82.5 11.1 6.5 

3,182 7,585 100.0 86.1 9.7 *4.2 

2,140 4,675 100.0 87.9 7.4 *4.8 

3397 11,782 100.0 73.3 16.9 9.8 

4,830 13,610 100.0 74.4 16.6 9.0 

8,943 22,526 100.0 82.1 11.7 6.2 

3,739 9,081 100.0 83.5 9.9 6.6 — 

4,123 9,787 100.0 89.2 7.7 *3.2 
ackmeda5 

Table 1. Number of mothers and of live births, and percent distribution of births, to mothers 15-44 years of age, by whether wented, unwanted or undetermined, according to selected characteristics: United States, 1973–Con. 

Number of Number of UndeterCharacteristic mothers in births in Total Wanted Unwanted mined 

thousands thousands 

Percent distribution 

o 

Woman’s labor force status 

Not in labor force ........ ........ ....... ........... 

In labor force ....... ....................... ........... 

Working full time ........... ................... 

Working part time ................. ............ 

Not working ...................................... 

Poverty levell 

Below 100 percent ................................. 

100-149 percent .................................... 

150 and above ...... .. .............. .................. 

Religion 

Catholic ...... .......................................... 

Protestant .................. ...... ..................... 

Jewish .................................... ............... 

Other .................. .................................. 

None ....................... .............................. . 

Desired family size 

No children ...... ...................................... 

One child ............................... ................ 

Two children ........... ...... ......................... 

Three or four children .......... .............. .... 

Five or six children .............................. .. 

Seven children or more .......................... 

Fetal losses 

No losses ................................................ 

One loss .... ............ ........ ......................... 

Two losses ................... ........................... 

Three losses or more .............................. 

Times married 

Never married ........ ............... ................. 

Once married ......... .......................... ...... 

Twice married or more ........................... 

Most recent contraceptive use 

Nonusers ........... ..................................... 

Users ................................ ...................... 

Sterilization ...................................... 

Pill or IUD ........................................ 

Other methods ........................ .......... 

15,678 42,230 100.0 

10,125 25,954 100.0 

6,570 16,654 100.0 

2,716 7,110 100.0 

838 2,190 100.0 

3,222 10,697 100.0 

2,596 8,211 100.0 

19,985 49,277 100.0 

7,294 20,259 100.0 

17,028 44,684 100.0 

398 898 100.0 

343 824 100.0 

739 1,520 100.0 

1,337 3,562 100.0 

989 1 S28 100.0 

10,880 23,361 100.0 

10,477 29,514 100.0 

1,603 6918 100.0 

517 2,903 100.0 

19,205 48,713 100.0 

4,551 12,757 100.0 

1,247 4,133 100.0 

800 2,581 100.0 

771 1399 100.0 

21,493 55$80 100.0 

3,539 10,806 100.0 

2,166 5,229 100.0 

22,623 59,635 100.0 

4$21 16,574 100.0 

10,278 23,512 100.0 

7,523 19,550 100.0 

80.6 12.3 7.2 

78.2 14.4 7.4 

77.2 15.1 7.7 

81.4 12.7 5.9 

75.5 *14.5 *10.O 

66.0 21.5 12.6 

73.8 16.6 9.6 

83.6 10.6 5.7 

81.5 11.4 7.1 

78.7 13.9 7.4 

88.7 *6.6 *4.7 

81.8 * 12.6 ‘5.6 

76.5 *15.4 *8.1 

60.9 30.9 *8.1 

68.6 20.4 *11.O 

80.4 13;0 6.5 

82.0 10.7 7.3 

81.6 12.0 6.4 

75.8 13.3 *1 0.9 

79.7 12.7 7.6 

80.2 13.2 6.6 

77.3 16.4 *6.3 

80.2 13.8 *6.O 

53.4 27.9 * 18.7 

80.9 12.1 7.1 

76.9 16.4 6.7 

79.9 10.3 9.9 

79.5 13.4 7.2 

73.5 18.5 8.0 

80.4 12.5 7.1 

83.4 10.0 6.6 

1$$pove~y level ~~designates the ratio of tot~ family income to poverty level income. See the definitions in the Technical Notes. 

, 
6 advancedata 

a 

Table2. Numberof mothers and of live biflhs, andpercent diqribution of biRhs, tomothers 15-4years ofage, bywhether wanted, unwanted orundetermined, according toageand race, andparity and race: United States, 1973 

Number of Number of UndeterCharacteristic mothers in births in Total IIWanted I Unwanted I mined 

thousands thousands 

Total ........ .................................. ....... 

AGE AND RACE 

White 

15-24 years ............................................ 

25-29 years ................ .. .......................... 

30-34 years ............................................ 

35-39 years ....... .................. ...... ............. 

4044 years ...... .......... ............................ 

Negro 

15-24 years ............................... ............. 

25-29 years .... ........................ ................ 

30-34 years .... ................................. ....... 

35-39 years ............................... ............ . 

4044 years .... .................................. ...... 

PARITY AND RACE 

One live birth ......................................... 

Two live births ....................................... 

Three live births. ...... .... .......................... 

Four live births ...................................... 

Five live births ....................................... 

Six live births or more ............................ 

Negro 

One child ............................................... 

Two children ................ .......................... 

Three children ........................................ 

Four children ............... ...... .................... 

Five children ......................... ................. 

Six children or more ............ .................. 

Percent distribution 

25,803 68,184 100.0 79.7 13.1 7.2 

3,410 5,029 100.0 86.9 *5.4 7.8 

4,799 9,764 100.0 87.2 8.2 4.6 

4,938 13,262 100.0 83.5 9.9 6.6 

4,436 14,174 100.0 80.6 12.3 7.0 

4,601 15,321 100.0 81.8 12.6 5.6 

940 1,468 100.0 64.6 *18.7 *16.6 

632 1,579 100.0 61.9 *23.6 *14.5 

615 2,024 100.0 60.3 26.4 *13.2 

596 2,330 100.0 52.7 32.9 ++14.4 

576 2,583 100.0 58.2 32.2 *9.5 o 

5,224 5,224 100.0 91.4 *3.1 *5.5 

7,257 14,441 100.0 92.5 3.0 4.4 

4,895 14,579 100.0 85.2 9.5 5.3 

2,435 9,603 100.0 78.5 15.3 6.1 

1,261 6,213 100.0 74.1 18.6 7.3 

1,111 7,491 100.0 69.6 19.5 11.0 

1,003 1,003 100.0 68.0 *15.8 *16.2 

809 1,604 100.0 69.1 *15.7 *15.2 

519 1,537 100.0 62.4 *22.2 *i5.4 

345 1,357 100.0 61.8 ‘26.0 *1 2.2 

229 1,120 100.0 60.9 * 28.4 *10.8 

453 3,363 100.0 47.8 40.5 11.7 
� 

abmAata7 

Table 3. Number of	 mothers and of live births, and percent distribution of births, to currently married mothers 1544 years of age, by 

whether wanted, unwanted or undetermined, according to race and parity: United States, 1973 

Number of Number of 

Characteristic	 mothers in births in 

thousands thousands 

Percent distribution 

Total ................................................ 

RACE 

White .................... ................................. 

Negro .................................... ................. 

Parity 

One live birth .............................. ........... 

Two live births ....................................... 

Three live births ..................................... 

Four live births .............................. ........ 

Five live births ....................................... 

Six live births or more ................. ........... 

21,816 57,52I 

19,764 51,39’ 

1,822 5,56’ 

5,086 5,08( 

7,107 14,14[ 

4,740 14,09: 

2,352 9,26 

1,277 6,28 

1,254 8,63” 

100.0 84.2 

100.0 63.9 

L

100.0 92.0 

100.0 92.1 

100.0 85.1 

100.0 78.3 

100.0 73.9 

100.0 66.2 

11.2 6.6 

9.8 6.0 

23.9 12.2 

*2.8 �5.1 

3.1 4.8 

9.4 5.5 

15.1 6.7 

17.9 8.1 

22.9 10.9 
8 acklncedata 

TECHNICAL NOTES 

DESIGN OF THE SURVEY: The National Survey of Fam,ily Growth (NSFG), initiated in 

1971, is designed to provide data on fertility, 

family planning, and related aspects of maternal 

and child health. Field work for Cycle I was 

carried out by the National Opinion Research 

Center in 1973 and early 1974 with September 

13, 1973, as the midpoint of the interviewing. 

A multistage probability sample of women 

in the noninstitutional population of the conterminous United States was used. Approximately 

33,000 households were screened to identify the 

sample of women who would be eligible for the 

NSFG; i.e., women between the ages of 15 and 

44 years, inclusive, who were currently married 

or previously married or who had never married 

but had natural children presently living in the 

household. In households with more than one 

eligible woman, a random procedure was used to 

select only one to be interviewed. Since the interviews were always conducted with the sample 

person, the term “woman” is used throughout 

this report as synonymous with sample person. 

Interviews were completed for 3,856 Negro 

women and for 5,941 women of other races. A 

detailed description of the sample design wiIl be 

presented in a forthcoming report “Sample Design, Estimation Procedures, and Variance Estimat ion for a National Survey of Family 

Growth.” 

The interview was narrowly focused on the 

respondents’ marital and pregnancy histones, on 

their use of contraception and the planning 

status of each pregnancy, on the respondents’ 

intentions regarding the number and spacing of 

future births, on maternity and family planning 

services, and on a broad range of social and economic characteristics. While the interviews varied greatly in the time required for their completion, they averaged about 70 minutes. Quality 

control procedures were applied at all stages of 

the survey. This included a verification of listing 

completeness with unlisted dwelling units being 

brought into the sample, a preliminary field review of completed questionnaires for possible 

missing data or inaccurate administration, a 

10-percent sample recheck of all households to 

be screened in the survey, observation of interviews in the field, and an independent recoding 

of a 5-percent subsample of completed interviews. 

RELIABILITY OF ESTIMATES: Since the statistics presented in this report are based on a 

sample, they may differ somewhat from the figures that would have been obtained if a complete census had been taken, using the same 

questionnaires, instructions, interviewing personnel, and field procedures. This chance difference between sample results and a complete 

count is referred to as “sampling error. ” In addition, the results are also subject to nonsampling 

error due to respondent misreporting, data processing mistakes, and nonresponse. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to obtain accurate measures of nonsampling errors. These types of 

errors were kept to a minimum by the quality 

control procedures and other methods incorporated into the survey design and administration. 

Sampling error, or the extent to which @ 

samples may differ by chance from a complete 

count, is measured by a statistic called the 

“standard error of estimate.” Approximate standard errors for estimated numbers and percentages from this survey are shown in tables 

and II for all pregnancies, regardless of their outcome. 

The chances are about 68 out of 100 that an 

estimate from the sample would differ from a 

Table i. Approximate standard errors for estimated numbers for 

pregnancies: 1973 National Survey of Family Growth 

Relative Standard Size of estimate standard error error 

100,000 ................... 46.4 46,000 

250,000 ..... .............. 29.3 73,000 

500,000 ....... ........ .... 20.7 104,000 

1,000,000 ................ 14.6 146,000 

2,500,000 .. ........ ...... 9.2 230,000 

5,000,000 ................ 6.4 322,000 

10,000,000 .............. 4.5 

25,000 ,000 .............. 2.6 

50,000 ,000 .............. 1.6 

I 
a&mdata9 

Table 11. Approximate standard errors for estimated percentages expressed in percentage points for pregnancies: 1973 National Survey of 

Family Growth 

@ 

Base of 2 or 98 5 or 95 100r90 

percentage 

700,000 .. .. .. .. ... . 2.5 3.8 5.3 

1,000,000 ... ..... . 2.1 3.2 4.4 

3,000,000 ... ..... . 1.2 1.8 2.5 

7,000,000 ... ... ... 0.8 1.2 1.7 

10,000,000 .. .... . 0.6 1.0 1.4 

30,000,000 .. .. .. . 0.4 0.6 0.8 

70,000,000 .. .. . .. 0.2 0.4 0.5 

complete census by less than the standard error. 

The chances are about 95 out of 100 that the 

differences between the sample estimate and a 

complete count would be less than twice the 

standard error. The relative standard error is the 

ratio of the standard error to the statistic being 

estimated. In this report, numbers and percentges that have a standard error that is more than 

5 percent of the estimate itself are considered 

‘unreliable.” They are marked with an asterisk 

to caution the user but may be combined to 

make other types of comparisons of greater precision. 

In this report, terms such as “similar” and 

“the same” mean that any observed difference 

DEFINITION 

Wantechzes.–The definition of wontedness 

is based on direct responses to several questions 

about each time that a woman has conceived. 

For a woman who reports that contraceptive use 

was stopped prior to conception, and for those 

who report that no contraceptive method was 

used in the interval preceding conception (which 

begins with the end of the preceding pregnancy, 

if applicable), the question on wa.ntedness is 

phrased as follows: “Was the reason you (were 

not/stopped) using any method because you, 

yourself, wanted to become pregnant?” An affirmative response to this question is defined as a 

“wanted” pregnancy. If the woman answers neg­

�atively, she is asked two followup questions 

which are identical to those asked of all other 

respondents. These questions are: “At the time 

20 or 80 30 or 70 40 or 60 50 

7.0 8.0 8.6 8.8 

5.9 6.7 7.2 7.3 

3.4 3.9 4.1 4.2 

2.2 2.5 2.7 2.8 

1.9 2.1 2.3 2.3 

1.1 1.2 1.3 1.3 

0.7 0.8 0.9 0.9 

between two estimates being compared is not 

statistically significant. Similarly, terms such as 

“greater,” “less,” “larger,” “smaller,” etc., indicate that the observed differences are statistically significant. The normal deviate test with a 

.05 level of significance was used to test all comparisons that are discussed in the text. A statistically significant difference is one large enough 

that in repeated samples of the same size and 

type as this one, such a large difference would 

be expected to be found in less than 5 percent 

of the samples. Lack of comment in the text between any two statistics does not mean the difference was tested and found not to be significant. 

OF TERMS 

you became pregnant (THIS INTERVAL)d did 

you, yourself, actually want to have a(nother) 

baby at some time?” and “As you recall, is that 

how you felt before you became pregnant, or 

did you come to feel that way later?” The Iatter 

question is rephrased as follows for women who 

indicated that they did not know or care 

whether or not they wanted to have a(nother) 

baby: “It is sometimes difficult to recall these 

things, but as you look back to just befo~e that 

pregnancy began, would you say you probably 

‘Parentheses indicate that the interviewer chose the 

appropriate wording for respondent. “THIS INTERVAL” means that the interviewer imserted the name or 

dates of the child or pregnancy that defined the interval 

in question. 
10 advancedaa 

wanted a(nother) baby some time or probably 

not?” 

A pregnancy is defined as “wanted” if the 

woman reports that (a) contraception was not 

used in the interval or was stopped prior to conception because the woman wanted to become 

pregnant, or (b) she wanted to have a(nother) 

baby at some time and felt that way before becoming pregnant, or (c) she reported that she 

probably wanted a(nother) baby at some time. 

A pregnancy is defined as “unwanted” if the 

woman reports that she did not want, or probably did not want to have a(nother) baby at 

some time and felt that way be~ore becoming 

pregnant. All other pregnancies are termed “undetermined. ” Table III shows the breakdown by 

the subcategories of the components of wontedness for pregnancies ending in live births and 

fetal losses. 

Age.–In this report, age is classified by the 

age of the respondent at her last birthday before 

the date of interview. 

Race. –Classification by race, based on interviewer observation, was reported as Negro, 

white, or other. Race refers to the race of the 

woman interviewed. 

9, 

Spanish oripn. –A respondent was classified 

as being of Spanish origin if she reported her 

origin or descent as Mexican, Chicano, Mexican 

American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or other 

Spanish. 

Region. –Region refers to the part of the 

country where the respondent was living at the 

time of the survey according to the definition of 

the U.S. Bureau of the Census. 

Marital Status. –Persons are classified by 

marital status as married, widowed, divorced, 

separated, or never married. Married persons include those who report themselves as married or 

as informally married, such as living with a partner or common-law spouse. Persons who are 

temporarily separated for reasons other than 

marital discord, such as vacation, illness, or 

Armed Forces, are classified as married. Divorced persons are those whose most recent marriage was legally dissolved and who are free to 

remarry. The annulled, while having the legal 

status of never having been married, are classified together with the divorced. The catego 

“separated “ includes those who are legally *or 

informally ,. separated from their most recent 

spouse due to marital discord. The “never marTable II 1. Percant distribution of subcategories of wontedness by race for all pregnancies regardless of outcome: United States, 1973 

Category of wontedness Total Nagro White and other 

Total ........ ................ .............................................. 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Wanted 

Contraception stopped or not used ........................ ..... 

Wanted prior to conception ............... ...... ................... 

Probably wanted prior to conception ..................... .... 

Unwanted 

Unwanted prior to conception ......... ..... ................ ...... 

Probably unwanted prior to conception ..................... 

Undetermined 

Wanted after conception ...................................... ....... 

Unwanted after conception ... ..................................... 

Don’t know or care ......... ............................................ 

44.7 29.5 56.8 

27.0 29.4 25.2 

1.0 1.1 0.9 

18.6 28.3 10.9 

0.3 0.4 0.2 

5.9 7.0 

2.2 3,9 

0.3 0.4 
---

adwweda 11 

ried” include those who have never had a formal 

marriage and do not consider themselves in any 

of the preceding categories. However, in the 

NSFG, single women with children of their own 

in the household were included. 

Times marrz”ed.–The number of times a 

woman has been maxried, according to the definition of maritaI status as offered in the preceding paragraph. 

Education.–The highest year of regular schooling compIeted is used to define education for the 

woman and her current or most recent husband. 

Labor force status. –A woman is categorized 

as being in the labor force if she was working 

full time or part time, had a job but was not at 

work because of temporary illness, vacation, or a 

strike, or if she was unemployed, laid off, or 

looking for work. 

Poverty level. –The poverty index ratio was 

calculated by dividing the total family income 

by the weighted average threshold income of 

nonfarm residents, head under 65, baaed on the 

poverty levels shown in the U.S. Bureau of the 

Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-60, 

No. 98, “Characteristics of the Low-Income 

Population, 1973,” table A-3. This definition 

takes into account the sex of the family head 

and the number of persons in the family. Total 

family income includes income from all sources 

for all members of the respondent’s family. 

Religion. –Women were asked whether they 

were Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, or something 

else. Protestant includes most of the Christian 

groups other than Roman Catholic. The “other” 

category includes non-~hnstians except those 

answering “none.” 

Pan”ty.–Parity refers to the number of live 

births the respondent has had. 

Desired family size.–The number of children 

a woman reported that she would have if she 

could start life over again and have exactIy the 

number of children she wanted. 

Fetal losses. –The number of pregnancies reported by the respondent ending in miscarriage, 

stillbirth, or induced abortion. 

Most recent contraceptive use. –Nonusers are 

women who have never used a contraceptive 

method or gave no indication of ever having 

used a method for the purpose of delaying or 

preventing a pregnancy. Users are women who 

have ever used at least one contraceptive method 

(incIuding sterilization at least partly for contraceptive reasons) for that purpose, and this is the 

current method for women using contraception 

at the date of the interview. 

EFFECTS OF IMPUTATION: In 477 cases out 

of 27,198 records of pregnancies, there was no 

code for determining the wontedness status of 

the pregnancy concerned. Interviewer’s error, 

coding and keypunching errors or the respondent’s nonresponse for a specific item are some 

possible reasons for this. Thus, for 1.8 percent of 

all pregnancies, a code for wontedness was imputed on the basis of respondents matched on 

race, age, pregnancy interval order, and parity, 

using the “hot deck” procedure for imputations. 

It is possible to assess the effects of this procedure by comparing the resulting distribution 

with one incIuding the unknown values as a separate category. The imputed proportions differ 

from the unimputed proportions by an average 

of 0.4 percentage points, with the largest difference being in the “wanted” category for Negro 

women of 0.9 percent. 

SYMBOLS 

Data not available—-—————————— 

Category not applicable--–-–———— . . . 

Quantity zero—–————---—————— 

Quantity more than Obut less than 0.05—- 0.0 

Figure does not meet standards of * reliability or precision–———— 

GPO 919-169 

9 
12 aduancedata


Previous issues of Advance Data From Vital and Health Statistics 

No. 1. 

No. 2. 

No. 3. 

No. 4. 

Us. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, 

Public Health S.,V,W 

Health Re,OUrCesAdministration 

Blood Pressure of Persons 6-74 Years of Age No. 5.


in the United States (Issued: October 18,


1976)


Hypertension: United States, 1974 (Issued: No. 6.
 November 8, 1976)


Height and Weight of Adults 18-74 Years in No. 7.


the United States (Issued: November 19,


1976)


Prevalence of Dermatolosicaf Diseases Among No. 8.


Persons 1-74 Years of “Age, United State;


(Issued: January 26, 1977)


EOUCATl ON, AND wELFARE 

A Comparison of Levels of Serum Cholesterol 

of Adults 18-74 Years of Age in the United 

States in 1960-62 and 1971-74 (IssuecR 

February 22, 1977) 

Dietary Intake of Persons 1-74 Years of Age 

in the United States (Issued: March 30, 1977) 

Total Serum Cholesterol Level of Adults 

18-74 Years of Age in the United States in 

1971-74 (Issued: May 25, 1977) 

Total Serum Cholesterol Level of Chiidren 

4-17 Years of Age in the United States in 

1971-74 (Issued:~uly 11, 1977) 

—. 

POSTAGE ANO FEES PAl O . u.S. OEPA RTMENT OF HEW 

HEW 390 [*] 

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