-+ . 

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

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, . Public Health Service 

EDUCATION, AND WELFARE Office of Health Research, Statistics, and Technology Number 56 � January 24, 1980 

Wanted and Unwanted Births Reported by Mothers 

15-44 Years of Age: United States, 19761 

According to results }rom the 1976 National 

Survey of Family Growth, an estimated 8.1 milIion, or 12.0 percent, of a total of 67.8 million 

live births that had occurred to mothers 15-44 

years of age were unwanted. Of an average 2.5 

births per mother, 2.0 were wanted at the time 

of conception, 0.3 were unwanted at that time, 

and 0.2 births were classified as “undetermined.” More than four-fifths of the births to 

white women were reported as wanted compared with only three-fifths of the births to 

black women. The proportion of unwanted 

births for black women (25.8 percent) was 

almost 3 times that for white women (9.5 percent). The wontedness of another 13.8 percent 

of births to black women and 7.0 percent to 

white women was undetermined because the 

women’s feelings at the time of conception 

were not known. 

These and other figures in this report indicate a modest, statistically nonsignificant decrease in the proportion of unwanted births 

sirfce the 1973 National Survey of Family 

Growth.z However, the summary data in this 

report do not provide the best basis for examining trends in wanted and unwanted fertility 

in recent years because changes in these proportions between 1973 and 1976 might be obscured 

lThis report was prepared by Eugenia Eckard, M. S., 

Division of Vital Statistics. 

2Najjon~ Center for He~th statistics: W=ted ad 

unwanted births reported by mothers 15-44 years of 

age: United States, 1973, by M. L. Munson. Advance 

Data From Vital and Health Statistics, No. 9. DHEW 

Pub. No. (HRA) 77-1250. Health Resources Administration. Hyattsville, Md. Aug. 10, 1977. 

by the large overlap of births occurring in 1973 

and earlier years reported in both surveys. An 

analysis of trends in wanted and unwanted childbearing based on more detailed data will be the 

subject of a later report. 

The data for Cycle II of the National Survey 

of Family Growth, which was conducted by the 

National Center for Health Statistics, were colIected by means of personal interviews with a 

multistage probability sample of women 15-44 

years of age in the household population of the 

conterminous United States. Women were eligible for inclusion in the sample if they were 

currently married, previously married, or never 

married but with offspring presently living in the 

household. From January through September 

1976, 3,009 black women and 5,602 women of 

other races were interviewed for Cycle II of the 

survey. Further discussion of the survey design, 

sampling variability, and definition of terms 

appears in the “Technical Notes. ” 

THE CONCEPT OF WANTEDNESS 

For each pregnancy ending in a live birth, a 

series of questions was asked to determine 

whether or not the woman, at the time of conception, had wanted that pregnancy. If contraception had not been used or had been stopped 

prior to a specified pregnancy, the woman was 

asked: “Was the reason you (were not/stopped)s 

using any methods because you, yourself, 

wanted to become pregnant?” If she had avoid3Parentheses indicate that the interviewer chose 

the appropriate wording for respondent. 
2 ad’mncedata — 

9— ed or stopped using contraception for some 

other reason, or if she had become pregnant 

while using a method, she was asked: “At the 

time you became pregnant . . . , did you, yourself, actually want a(nother) baby at some 

time?” To emphasize the importance of her 

feelings at the time of conception, each woman 

was asked: “As you recall, is that how you felt 

before you became pregnant, or did you come 

to feel that way later?” Finally, women who 

reported that they did not know or remember 

how they had felt at the time of conception 

were asked whether they had “probably wanted 

a(nother) baby sometime or probably not. ” 

The pregnancy was classified as wanted at 

conception if the respondent had stopped or was 

not using contraception in order to become 

pregnant, if she had wanted a(nother) child at 

some time and had felt that way before she became pregnant, or if she probably wanted 

a(nother) child sometime. The pregnancy was 

classified as unwanted if she had not wanted 

a(nother) child sometime and felt that way before she became pregnant or if she probably had 

not wanted a(nother) child sometime. The wontedness of a pregnancy was classified as undetermined if the woman said she wanted a(nother) 

child sometime but she came to feel that way 

after conception, if she did not want a(nother) 

child sometime and felt that way after conception, or if her feelings about the pregnancy at 

the time of conception were unknown altogether. It is important to emphasize that interest 

is focused on wontedness of a pregnancy at the 

time of conception rather than wontedness of 

a particular child. For this reason the present 

analysis treats multiple births as a single birth 

outcome. 

As may be seen in table 1, 79.9 percent of 

births were wanted at conception and another 

5.3 percent were wanted after conception, while 

12.0 percent were unwanted at conception and 

another 1.6 percent were unwanted after conception. The substantial proportion of births 

which became wanted after conception (5.3 percent) is evidence that an unwanted or unintended pregnancy does not necessarily mean an 

unwanted child. At the same time, these births 

represent a sizable proportion of births that 

would not have occurred or would have 

occurred at a later time if these mothers had had 

only the births that were wanted at conception. 

HIGHLIGHTS OF FINDINGS 

Table 1 shows that the proportion of births 

that were wanted either at or after conception 

decreased with age from about 90 percent 

among mothers aged 20-29 years to about 81 

percent among mothers aged 40-44. Teenage 

mothers were an exception. In fact, the proportion of births wanted at conception by teenage 

mothers, who had had an average of only 1.2 

births, was as low as that among mothers in 

their earIy forties, who had had 3 times as many 

births on the average (3.5 births). 

The proportion of births that were unwanted at the time of conception was low among 

mothers in their twenties ( 7 percent) and rose 

to almost 16 percent among those 40-44 years 

of age. Again the teenage mothers were an exception, reporting a higher proportion of their 

births as unwanted at conception (9 percent) 

than women in their twenties did. 

There is a need to take a closer look at the 

reporting of births unwanted at the time of conception among mothers under age 25, especially 

among teenage mothers. Because these are 

largely first and second births, these mothers 

appear to have said that at the time of conception they wanted no births at all or no more 

than one. Although this may be true, another 

plausible view is that some births reported as unwanted at conception actually were wanted, but 

they were wanted at a later time because of the 

circumstances under which they occurred. For 

instance, the birth may have been the result of 

a premarital conception or may have occurred 

during the dissolution of a marriage. In any case, 

these early unwanted births suggest that when a 

woman has more births over her childbearing 

years than she wanted, the number unwanted 

may have occurred at the beginning rather than 

the end of her childbearing experience. In other 

words, some of the unwanted births reported by 

older mothers and by mothers with more than 

one child were their first births. 

Table 1 also reveals that the proportion of 

births wanted at conception decreases with increasing numbers of children already born 

(parity) among mothers with more than two 

children. The proportions of births unwanted at 

conception correspondingly increase dramatically from 1 in 25 (3.9 percent) among mothers o 

9 
1 ....................................................

2

3

4

5

6

.......................................... ..........

� 

dvancedata 3 

Table 1. Number of mothers 15-44 years of age, number of live births, and percent distribution of births by whether wanted, unwanted, 

or undetermined, according to race, age, and parity: United States, 1976 

I Undetermined 

dumber 01 Number of sVanted 

Race, age, and parity nothers in births in Total at conhousends thousands] cept ion Unknown 

RACE AND AGE 

Percent distribution All races2 

=4=’ 

15-19 years .............. ....... ................... 811 972 100.0 75.2 �9.3 *11.9 *2.1 *1 .7 

20-24 years........................................ 3,653 5,384 100.0 83.2 7.2 *6.9 *1.2 *1.5 

25-29 years........................................ 6,075 11,574 100.0 85.6 7.4 5.2 *0.9 *0.8 

30-34 years.............. .......................... 6,146 15,863 100.0 82.1 10.7 4.6 *1 .5 *1.3 

35-39 years .......................... .............. 5,313 16,168 100.0 77.8 14.2 5.1 *1.8 *1 .1 

4044 years........................................ 5,057 17,888 100.0 75.4 15.7 5.3 *2.1 *1.6 

All ages ...................... ............. 27,055 67,849 100.0 5.3 1.6 1.2 

White 

� 

All ages . . . .... .. . .... .. .. .. ... . .... .. . 22,837 56,238 100.0 83.4 9.5 4.7 1.1 1.2 

15-19 years., . .. .. ... . .... . .. .... . .. . ... . .. ... ... . . 507 586 100.0 80.9 *8.O *8.5 0.0 *2.5 

20-24 years .. .. ... ... . ... ... . ... ... .. .. .. .. ... .. . .. 2,896 4,128 100.0 87.8 *3.9 *6.3 *0.5 *1.5 

25-28 years.................. .................. ... 5,160 9,637 100.0 --t- 88.9 5.5 4.5 ‘0.4 *0.8 

30-34 years . .. .... . ... .. ... .. ... .. .. .. .. ... .. ... . .. 5,281 13,411 100.0 84.9 8.6 4.3 *1.O *1.2 

35-39 years .. .... .. .. .... . .. .... . .. .... . .. ... .. . ... 4,612 13,657 100.0 81.2 11.5 4.6 *1.4 *1.2 

40-44 years .. .... . .. .... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. . .... . .. ... 4,380 14,818 100.0 79.5 12.7 4.7 *1.8 *1.3 

Black 

All ages................................... 3,726 10,525 100.0 60.4 25.8 8.1 * 4.0 *1.7 

15-19 years ..... . ... .. ... .. ... .. .. ... . .. .... . .. ... . 298 380 100.0 65.B *1 1.4 *1 7.2 *5.3 *0.3 

20-24 years .... .. .. .... ... . .. ... . .... .. .. .. .. .. ... . 707 1,193 100.0 66.7 *1 8.5 *9.6 *3.9 *1 .4 

25-29 years ..... . .. ... .. .. ... .. .. .... . .. .... .. ... .. 763 1,670 100.0 66.9 18.9 *9.7 +3.7 *O .8 

30-34 years .... .. .. ... . ... ... ... . .... . .. ... .. .. .... 740 2,1 5B 100.0 63.3 24.1 “6.5 *4.5 *1.7 

35-39 years .... . ... .. ... .. ... .. .. ... . . ... .. .. . .... . 591 2,240 100.0 55.4 31.9 *8.3 *3.6 ‘0.8 

40-44 years .. .... ..... .. .. ... ... ..... . . .... . . ..... . 628 2,885 100.0 55.0 31.3 *6.5 *4.1 *3.1 

RACE AND PARITY 

All races2 

All ages ................................... 27,055 67,849 I00.0

T

5.3 1.6 1.2 

� 

. . . 7,218 7,218 100.0 88.3 *3.9 6.0 ‘0.8 *1 .0 

......... ............................................ .. 8,979 17,881 100.0 90.1 4.4 4.1 ‘0.6 *0.7 

.............................. ......................... 5,617 16,637 100.0 80.2 12.3 5.1 �1.3 *1.2 

.................................................... ... 2,515 9,921 100.0 77.9 13.1 5.7 *2.O *1.3 

........................................... ............ 1,399 6,922 100.0 70.1 20.5 6.0 *1 .7 *1.6 

or more .. .. .... ... .. ... . ... .... . . .... .. . ... .. .. .. . 1,326 9,260 100.0 62.4 24.7 6.3 4.3 *2.2 

W hita 

1 .. . 5,880 5,880 100.0 80.7 *2.4 *5.3 *0.4 *1 .2 

2 ..... .......... ........................................ 7,B60 15,665 100.0 92.0 3.4 3.6 *0.4 *0.7 

4,B87 14,473 100.0 82.1 11.0 4.7 *1.O *1.2 

4 ..... .. .... . .. .... ... . ..... . . .... .. .. ... .. ... .. . . .. .. .. 2,153 8,496 100.0 80.0 11.6 5.4 *1.7 *1.4 

5’ .... . ... ... .. .. ..... . .. ... .. .. .... . ... .. .. . .... .. . .... . 1,164 5,754 100.0 72.8 1 B.8 �5.9 *1.1 *1.3 

6 or more. ...................... .................... 883 5,960 100.0 72.1 16.9 *5.3 � 3.6 *2.1 

See footnotes at end of table. 
1

2

3

4

5

6

4 acklncedata 

o 

Table 1. Number of mothers 15-44 years of age, number of live births, and percent distribution of births by whether wanted, unwanted, 

or undetermined, according to race, age, and parity: United States, 1976–Con. 

Undetermined 

Number of Number of Wanted Unwanted 

Race, age, and parity mothers in births in Total at con- at con- Wanted Unwanted 

thousands thousands] ception ception after con- after con- Unknown 

ception cept ion 

RACE AND PARITY–Con. 

Per{ ,nt distribution 

= 

.......................................... ............ 1,159 1,159 100.0 75.3 *1 1.3 *I 0.3 * 2.9 $+0.2 

...................................................... 967 1,922 100.0 74.3 *1 3.4 *8.5 * 2.4 *1.4 

...................................................... 616 1,829 100.0 65.6 22.6 *7.9 *3.O *o .9 

................................................... ... 331 1,288 100.0 62.3 23.8 *8.6 *4.6 *0.8 

.................................... .................. 223 1,106 100.0 54.4 30.4 *7.1 ‘4.8 *3.3 

or more .......................................... 431 3,211 J-L 100.0 45.0 39.5 L *7.3 *5.6 *2.6

1~u~tiple b~hs are counted OnlY once. 

Zlncludes White, black, and other races.. 

of parity one to almost 1 in 4 (24.7 percent) 

among mothers of parity six or higher. - ‘ 

One of the largest differences observed in 

table 1 is between white mothers, 83.4 percent 

of whose births were reported as wanted at conception, and black mothers, who reported 23 

percentage points fewer wanted births (60.4 

percent). One-fourth of births to black mothers 

(25.8 percent) were reported as unwanted at 

conception. This is almost 3 times the proportion of births unwanted at conception by white 

mothers (9.5 percent ). The differences between 

black and white mothers in the proportions of 

wanted births are seen in all age groups, reaching 

25.1 percentage points fewer wanted births by 

black mothers 35 years and older, and are statistically significant in all but the teenage group. 

Although black mothers had borne a greater 

average number of children and had nearly 

twice the proportion of women at parity five or 

more, the differences between black and white 

mothers within the same parity groups remained 

and were statistically significant in three out of 

the six comparisons by parity. Furthermore, the 

proportion of wanted births to white mothers at 

panty six or more was only 3 percentage points 

lower than that for black mothers at parity one. 

Table 2, unlike table 1, shows only one combined figure for the three different components 

of the undetermined category and thus indicates 

only the percent of births that were wanted or 

unwanted at the time of conception. The 

wontedness of births to women of Hispanic 

origin (regardless of race) was about the same as 

that for aIl white women–83. 1 percent compared with 83.4 percent of births wanted, 10.2 

percent compared with 9.5 percent of births unwanted, and 6.8 percent compared with 7.0 per- � 

cent undetermined among Hispanic women and 

all white women, respectively. 

There is no significant difference in the proportion of wanted births to women of different 

geographic regions, although women in the 

South reported a smaller proportion of their 

births as wanted than women of all other regions 

combined did. This may be attributed partly to 

the fact that a higher proportion of black and 

high-parity families live in the South. 

The highest proportion of wanted births was 

among those women whose level of education 

was highest. For example, women with 4 or 

more years of college reported 90.7 percent of 

their births as wanted at the time they were conceived, while women with an elementary school 

education (8 years or less) reported only 72.5 

percent wanted. The proportion of unwanted 

births among women with an elementary school 

education ( 17.4 percent) was nearly 4 times that 

among college graduates (4. 7 percent). These 

educational differences are very Iikely associated 

with the parity differences noted above, since 

women with 4 or more years of college had 

thirds 

borne 

less 

an average 

than women 

of 1.2 

with 

children, 

ordy an 

almost 

elementary 

two- �
� 

aduancedata 5 

@ Table 2. Number of rmthers 15-44 years of age, number of live births, and percent dismibution of births by whether wanted, unwanted, 

or undetermined, according to selected characteristics: United States, 1976 

Characteristic 

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

Origin 

Hispanic ....................................... 

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

Geographic region 

Northeast ............................. ........ 

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

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

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

Woman’s education 

Elementary school, 8 years 

or less........................................< 

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

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

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

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

Husba rid’s education 

Elementary school, 8 years 

or less............................... ........ .. 

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

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

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

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

Wornan’s labor 

force status 

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

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

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

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

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

Poverty level income 

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

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

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

Religion 

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

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

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

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

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

Number of Number of Wanted Unwanted


mothers in births in Total at con- at con- Undetermined


thousands thousandsl cept ion ception


Percent distribution 

27,055 67,849 100.0 79.9 12.0 8.1 

1,799 4,516 100.0 83.1 10.2 *6.8 

25,208 63,202 100.0 79.6 12.1 8.3 

5,513 13,784 100.0 80.7 10.3 9.0 

7,688 19,654 100.0 79.6 12.7 7.7 

9,237 22,661 100.0 78.8 12.5 8.8 

4,616 11,750 100.0 81.5 11.8 6.7 

2,187 7,274 100.0 72.5 17.4 10.1 

5,478 15,543 100.0 73.0 15.5 11.5 

12,651 30,405 100.0 81.4 11.2 7.4 

3,763 8,391 100.0 85.4 9.3 5.3 

2,925 6,114 100.0 90.7 * 4.7 *4.6 

2,498 8,800 100.0 72.6 15.7 11.7 

4,248 11,427 100.0 74.7 15.8 9.5 

9,246 22,362 100.0 81.8 10.2 8.0 

4,446 10,295 100.0 85.3 9.6 5.1 

4,807 10,840 100.0 89.0 6.1 5.0 

14,588 37,213 100.0 81.1 10.5 8.3 

12,409 30,442 100.0 78.4 13.7 7.9 

8,392 20,114 100.0 77.3 15.0 7.7 

3,221 8,262 100.0 81.6 10.3 8.1 

795 2,066 100.0 77.0 *14.9 *8.O 

2,840 8,892 100.0 66.3 21.6 12.1 

2,501 6,968 100.0 77.3 13.9 8.8 

18,279 42,845 100.0 84.2 9.2 6.6 

7,379 19,147 100.0 83.0 9.6 7.4 

17,554 44,026 100.0 78.3 13.1 8.6 

611 1,366 100.0 88.8 *5.2 *6.O 

354 796 100.0 88.0 *5.1 *6.9 

1,090 2,286 100.0 77.5 16.1 *6.4 

� l~ultip]e births are counted only once. 
� 

� 

6 aciwincedata 

Table 2. Number of mothers 15-44 years of age, number of live births, and percent distribution of births by whether wanted, unwanted, 

or undetermined, according to selected characteristics: Unitad States, 1976–Con. 

Number of Number of 

Characteristic mothers in births in 

thousands thousandsl 

Previous marriages 

One or more . .. ..... . . .... .. ... ... .. . ..... . . 4,111 11,395 

Name .. .. . ..... . .. .... ... .. ... .. ... .. ... . .. 21,858 54,614 

Never married .... .. ... .. .. ... ... .. .. ... .. .. 1,071 1,785 

Feta I losses 

No losses.. ... .. ... ... .. . .... ... . .... .. .. .... . 19,956 47,545 

1 loss. ... .. .... .. .. .... .. . ..... .. .. .... .. . ... .. . 4,842 13,342 

2 losses or more . .. . . .. ... .. .. .... . ... ... .. 2,257 6,963 

Desired family size 

at time of interview 

No children .... .. .. .. .. .. .. ... ... .. ... .. .. .. 725 1,842 

1 child ... .. .. ..... . .. ..... . ... ... .. .. ... ... .. .. 1,412 2,176 

2 children . . ..... . .. ..... .. . ... ... ... ... . .. ... 11,865 25,528 

3 or 4 children . ... ... .... . .... . .. .... . ... .. 10,222 27,472 

5 or 6 children . . ...... .. .. ... .. ... ... .. .... 1,963 7,183 

7 children or more . .. ... ... .. .. .... . . .. .. 590 2,656 

l~u~tiple buth~ are counted OSdY once. 

education. The pattern for warttedness of births 

by husbands’ education was the same as that 

found with women’s education. 

Mothers not in the labor force or working 

only part time had a higher proportion of wanted births (8 1.2 percent) than mothers working 

full time or not at work because of vacation, illness, or being between jobs (77.3 percent), 

despite the fact that they had borne slightly 

more children on the average. 

Differences in the proportions of wanted 

births between the income groups shown in 

table 2 were as marked as the differences between educational groups. Mothers with a family 

income below the poverty level had wanted only 

two-thirds of their births at conception compared with more than four out of five births 

wanted among mothers whose family income 

was 150 percent of the poverty level or more. 

These differences by income may also be reflected in the decreasing proportions of wanted 

births among mothers of increasingly higher 

parities; those with incomes below the poverty 

level had borne almost one child more, on the 

average, than mothers with the highest family 

incomes had. 

Wanted Unwanted 

Tota I at con- at con- Undetermined 

ception ception 

Percent distribution 

100.0 76.1 15.1 8.9 

100.0 81.5 10.8 7.7 

100.0 55.1 27.2 *17.8 

100.0 80.3 11.3 8.5 

100.0 79.5 12.9 7.6 

100.0 78.0 15.0 7.1 

100.0 56.9 33.7 *9.4 

100.0 75.5 *1 5.2 *9.3 

100.0 79.3 13.0 7.7 

100.0 81.7 10.0 8.4 

100.0 81.8 10.5 7.7 

100.0 81.5 *1 0.3 *8.2 

The proportion of wanted births reported by 

Catholics (~3.O percent) was higher th~ that reported by Protestants (78.3 percent), and the 

proportion of unwanted births was correspondingly lower among Catholic than among Protestant mothers. The proportion of undetermined 

births was also lower for Catholic women than 

for Protestant mothers, but the difference is not 

statistically significant. Jewish mothers and 

mothers of “other” religions combined had an 

even Iarger proportion of wanted births (88.5 

percent), although not significantly larger than 

the proportion for Catholic mothers. Mothers 

with no religious affiliation had a nonsignificantly higher proportion of unwanted births 

(16.1 percent) than any of the religious groups. 

Mothers who had been married only once 

had proportionately more wanted births (81.5 

percent) than mothers who had been married 

more than once (76. 1 percent), and both had 

higher proportions of wanted births than 

mothers who had never been married (55.1 percent). The wanted births to never-married 

mothers should not necessarily be interpreted 

to mean that these women wanted the births to 

occur before marriage; mothers responded to the o 
� 

� 

admmdata 7 . 

@ 

auestion as to whether or not thev, at the time 

if conception, had wanted a baby’ sometime. It 

is likely that these mothers also responded positively to a later question on whether they 

became pregnant sooner than they had wanted 

to. 

The proportions of births that were wanted 

at conception declined with increasing numbers 

of fetal losses a mother had experienced; the 

proportions of births that had been unwanted 

at conception correspondingly increased with 

the number of fetal losses. However, none of 

these differences in the proportions wanted and 

unwanted meet the test of statistical significance. 

Women were asked about the total number 

of children they desired at the time of the survey, that is, the number they would like to have 

if they were abIe to begin their childbearing over 

again. The response categories are shown in table 

2. As might be expected, mothers who had already borne more children than they desired had 

relatively high proportions of unwanted births. 

For instance, mothers who desired no children 

at all had already had an average of 2.5 births, 

one-third of which had been unwanted at conception and another 9 percent of which had 

been undetermined. Women who desired one or 

TECHNICAL 

The Survey Design 

The National Survey of Family Growth 

(NSFG) was designed to provide data on fertility, family planning, and related aspects of maternal and child health. The NSFG is a cyclic 

survey; that is, data are collected every few years 

by means of a sample survey. Fieldwork for 

Cycle I was carried out by the National Opinion 

Research Center from June 1973 through February 1974. Fieldwork for Cycle II was carried 

out by Westat, Inc., from January through 

September 1976. 

A multistage probability sample of women 

in the household population of the conterminous United States was used in both cycles. 

Each time, approximately 33,000 households 

were screened to identify the sample of women 

eligible for the NS FG, i.e., women aged 15-44 

years who were either currently married, pretwo children had also had, on the average, more 

than they desired. It is evident that mothers who 

desired fewer than three children had wanted 

between one-half and four-fifths of their births 

at the time of conception, which suggests that 

the number of children desired is a very changeable number over time. Mothers who desired 

three and more children, however, had not yet 

borne this number on the average, but 10 percent of their births were reported as being unwanted at conception. Because these women expressed the desire for more children, it may be 

that their unwanted births occurred early in 

their childbearing. 

Although the data in this report tell us little 

about the causes of unintended pre~ancies, 

they reveal the groups experiencing the greatest 

numbers of unintended pregnancies (unwanted 

and undetermined combined). In general, they 

are the very young mothers and the oldest, the 

mothers who have the largest number of children, those with the least education and income, 

and the mothers who are without husbands or 

who have experienced mantaI disruption. The 

Iarge zdifferences between white and black 

mothers in the proportions of wanted and unwanted births probably reflect substantial differences in these social and economic conditions. 

NOTES 

viously married, or never married but with offspring presently Iiving 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 interview was 

always conducted with the sample person, the 

term “respondent” is synonymous with “sample 

person.” For Cycle II, interviews were completed with 3,009 black women and 5,602 

women of other races. A detailed description of 

the sample design for Cycle 11 is in preparation. 

The interview was highly focused on the respondent’s marital and pregnancy histories, use 

of contraception, planning status of each pregnancy, intentions regarding the number and 

spacing of future births, use of matermd and 

family planning services, and a broad range of 

socioeconomic characteristics. The time needed 

to complete interviews varied greatly; interviews 

in Cycle II averaged about 58 minutes. 
........................................

.....................................

........

.....

8 acimncedata 

Quality control procedures were applied at 

all stages of the survey. These included a verification of listing completeness that brought 

unlisted dwelling units 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 subject to nonsampling error due to respondent misreporting, 

processing errors, and nonresponse. It is very 

difficult, if not impossible, to obtain accurate 

measures of nonsampling errors. These types of 

error were kept to a minimum by the quality 

control procedures and other methods incorporated in 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 percents from 

Cycle I for all pregnancies, regardless of their 

outcome, are shown in tables I and II. Profitable 1. Approximate standard errors for estimated numbers for 

pregnancies: 1973 National Survey of Family Growth 

Relative Standard Size of estimate standard error error 

loo.ooo ............................................ 46.4 46,000 

250.000 ............................................ 29.3 73,000 

5oo.ooo............................................ 20.7 104,000 

1,ooo,ooo . 14.6 146,000 

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

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

lo,ooo,ooo . . 4.5 445,000 

25,000,000 ....................................... 2.6 658,000 

50,000,000....................................... 1.6 811,000 

Table 11. Approximate standard errors expressed in percentage @ 

~oints for estimated percents for tx’ewancies: 1973 National 

Survey of Family Growth 

Estimated percent 

Base of 4 

percent 2 or 5 or lOor 2001 30 or 40 or 

98 95 90 80 70 60 

700,000............ 2.5 3.8 5.3 7.0 8.0 8.6 

1,000,000 . 2.1 3.2 4.4 5.9 6.7 7.2 

3,000,000......... 1.2 1.8 2.5 3.4 3.9 4.1 

7,000,000......... 0.8 1.2 1.7 2.2 2.5 2.7 

10,000,000.. 0.6 1.0 1.4 1.9 2.1 2.3 

30,000,000....... 0.4 0,6 0.8 1.1 1.2 1.3 

70,000,000....... 0.2 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.8 0.9 

50 

8.8 

7.3 

4.2 

2.8 

2.3 

1.3 

0.9 

sional estimates of standard errors for Cycle II 

for white women and women of all races combined can be obtained by multiplying the standard errors for these women from Cycle I by factors of 1.09 for the latter and 1.06 for white 

women. Similarly, provisional estimates of 

standard errors for Cycle II for black women can 

be obtained by multiplying the standard errors 

for black women from Cycle I by a factor of 

1.14. 

The chances are about 68 out of 100 that an 

estimate from the sample would differ from a 

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 Iess 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 percents 

which have a standard error that is more than 

25 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 

between two estimates being compared is not 

statistically significant. SimiIarly, terms such as 

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

.05 level of significance was used to test all comparisons 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 
dmmedaa9 

samples. Lack of comment in the text between 

any two statistics does not mean the difference 

was tested and found not to be significant. 

Adjustment for nonsarnpling error due to 

nonresponse w,as made in two ways. Nonrespondent cases, as distinct from missing data 

items, were imputed by weighting for nonresponse within each primary sampling unit, 

stratum, and age-race category. Cases with 

missing data were allocated among the cells of 

a table in proportion to the distribution of 

known cases with the same characteristics. 

Definitions of Terms 

Wontedness. –The definition of wontedness 

is based on direct responses to questions about 

each pregnancy a woman had conceived. For 

women reporting that contraceptive use was 

stopped prior to conception or that no contraceptive method was used in the interval preceding conception (which begins with the end of 

the preceding pregnancy, if there is one), the 

question on wontedness was 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 indicated a “wanted” pregnancy. 

If the woman answered negatively, she was 

asked two further questions, which were also 

asked of all other respondents. These questions 

are: “At the time you became pregnant (THIS 

INTERVAL),4 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?” A subsequent question for those 

who did not know or care whether or not they 

wanted to have a(nother) baby was: “It is sometimes difficult to recall these things, but as you 

look back to just before that pregnancy began, 

would you say you probably wanted a(nother) 

baby sometime or probably not?” 

A pregnancy is defined as “wanted at conception” if the woman reported that (a) contraception was not used or was stopped prior to 

conception because she wanted to become pregnant, (b) she wanted to have a(nother) baby at 

4“THIS INTERVAL” means that the interviewer 

inserted the name of the child or dates of the pregnancy 

which defined the interval in question. 

some time and felt that way before becoming 

pregnant, or (c) she probably wanted a(nother) 

baby at some time. A pregnancy is defined as 

“unwanted” if the woman reported that she dld 

not want to have a(nother) baby at some time or 

probably did not want a(nother) baby and felt 

that way before becoming pregnant. “Undetermined” pregnancies include those that a woman 

came to want sometime after conception, those 

that came to be unwanted sometime after conception, and those for which her feelings at the 

time of conception could not be reported. 

Age. –Age is classified by the age of the respondent at her last birthday before the date of 

interview. 

Race. –Classification by race was based on 

interviewer observation and was reported as 

black, white, or other. It refers to the race of 

the respondent. 

Hispanic orzgin. –A respondent was classified 

as being of Hispanic origin if she reported her 

origin or descent as at least partly Mexicano, 

Chicano, Mexican American, Puerto Rican, 

Cuban, or other Spanish. 

Geographic region. –Region refers to the 

part of the country where the respondent was 

living at the time of the survey classified according to U.S. Bureau of the Census definitions. 

Marital status. –Persons are classified by 

marital status as married, widowed, divorced, 

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

or as informally married, such as living with a 

partner or common-law spouse. Persons who 

were temporarily separated for reasons other 

than marital discord, such as vacation, illness, or 

service in Armed Forces, are classified as 

married. Divorced persons are those whose most 

recent marriage was legally dissolved and who 

were free to remarry. The annulled, while having 

the legal status of never having been married, are 

classified together with the divorced. The category “separated” includes those who were 

legally or informally separated from their most 

recent spouse due to marital discord. Women 

who were “never married “ include those who 

never had a formal marriage and did not classify 

themselves in any of the preceding categories. 

Single women with offspring in the household 

were included in the NS FG. 

Previous marriages. –Women are categorized 
----------------------------------------- ---

------------------------------

10 dmcdata 

according to their response to a question on 

whether or, not they had been married prior to 

their current or last marriage. 

,!?clucation. –The highest year of regular 

schooling completed 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 (35 hours or more per week) or part 

time; had a job but was not at work because of 

temporary illness, vacation, or a strike; or 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 families whose head was under 65 years 

of age based on the poverty levels shown in: 

U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population 

Reports, Series’ P-60, No. 106, “Money income 

in 1975 of families” and persons in the United 

States,” 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 e 

members of the respondent’s family. Due to a 

high nonresponse rate on items pertaining to the 

respondent’s family income, the figures for 

poverty level must be interpreted with caution. 

Religion. –Women were asked whether they 

were Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, or something 

else. “Protestant” includes most Christian 

groups other than Roman Catholic. The 

“other” category includes those reporting a 

religious preference other than Protestant, 

CathoIic, or Jewish. 

Parity .–Parity refers to the number of live 

births the respondent has had. 

Fetal losses. –Fetal losses are the number of 

pregnancies reported by the respondent as 

ending in miscarriage, stillbirth, or induced abortion. 

Desired family size. –A woman was classified 

according to the number of children she reported she would have if she could start life over 

again and have exactly the number of children 

she wanted. 

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 * 
No. 55. 

No. 54. 

No. 53. 

Recent Issues of Advance Data From Vital and Health Statistics 

Reproductive Impairments Among Currently No. 52. Changes in Cigarette Smokiig and Current 

Married Couples: United States, 1976 Smoking Practices Among Adults United 

(In preparation) States, 1978 (Issued: September 20, 1979) 

Fats, Cholesterol, and Sodium Intake in the No. 51. Overweight Adults in the United States 

Diet of Persons 1-74 Years United States (Issued: August 30, 1979) 

(Issued: December 17, 1979) 

Office Visits Involving X-Rays, National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: United States, 

1977 (Issued: September 11, 1979) 

I A complete list of Advance Data From Vital and Health Statists”es is available from the Scientific and Technical 

Information Branch. 

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