Women’s empowerment and intentions for additional children among reproductive-aged women: an analysis of demographic and health surveys in South Asia

Table 2 Sample characteristics and distribution of desire for more children by women empowerment and other variables in South Asia (n = 61,074)

Characteristics	Number	Percent^a	95% CI
Age
15–24	12,699	21.8	21.3–22.3
25–34	25,122	41.1	40.5–41.7
35–49	23,206	37.1	36.5–37.7
Number of living children
1	13,389	23.4	22.8–23.9
2	18,922	31.6	30.9–32.2
≥3	28,716	45.1	44.3–45.9
Ideal number of children
0–2	31,823	55.0	53.9–56.1
3–4	17,662	27.7	27.0–28.4
≥ 5	11,542	17.3	16.4–18.3
Currently working
No	46,039	75.5	74.8–76.2
Yes	14,988	24.5	23.8–25.2
Modern contraceptive use
No	35,198	56.7	55.8–57.5
Yes	25,829	43.3	42.5–44.2
Wealth Index
Poorest	13,556	20.4	19.7–21.2
Poorer	13,313	20.3	19.7–20.9
Middle	11,847	19.3	18.7–20.0
Richer	11,452	19.4	18.7–20.1
Richest	10,859	20.5	19.5–21.6
Place of residence
Urban	19,432	33.6	32.2–35.0
Rural	41,595	66.4	65.0–67.8

Note: CI; confidence interval
^aIn estimating percentages, the complex survey design and sampling weights were taken into account. Percentages may not total 100.0 because of rounding

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