Chapter 4. Family size: Hopes and realities.

Average family size has declined dramatically in many parts of the developing world Reasons for the decline include economic development, changes in values regarding children and in women's roles and aspirations, and improved access to modern methods of contraception. But women still have difficulty achieving the number of children they want and having births when they want them. As a result, a gap frequently exists between women's desired and actual family size. Men and women sometimes disagree about their desired family size, and complete control over the number and timing of births is often difficult to achieve. Most women have had all the children they want or do not ...