| dc.description.abstract | This study aims at establishing the demographic, socioeconomic
and cultural determinants of family size preferences in
an urban population. It further aims at providing
recommendations to policy makers and for further research into
related issues.
The data used is basically primary and was obtained from
a field survey which interviewed 403 currently married women
residents of Mathare Valley - 4B.
The study applied X2 - test and multiple regresslon as
techniques of statistical analysis.
The major findings were that:-
- On applying X2 - test, desire for more children, region of
origin, number of living children, length of residence,
educational level, number of sons still alive ethnic group,
occupation and current age are found to be related to
desired family size, at the 5% level of significance. But
the independent variable religious affiliation is not
statistically significant at the same level of
significance.
On applying multiple regression, desire for more
children (yes and undecided); Number of living children (4
- 6 & 7 - 9) are found to )lave a posi tive influence on
desired family size. While length of residence (over 6
years); Region of o~igin (others) and number of living sons
(0 - 3) are found to have a negative influence on desired
family size. However the variables occupation, current age
and ethnic group are found to be statistically
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insignificant at 0.05 level. All the independent variables
considered in the regression analysis explained about 41%
of the variation in desired family size.
The study recommends that policy makers should emphasize on
relevant policies that aim at altering the traditional
socio-cultural structure through promoting female education
and spreading population education information so as to
encourage desirable fertility norms and related attitudes . | en |
