Number and sex preferences among the young and old.

PIP: 1345 respondents froms elected Laguna Lake area municipalities (Philippines) were interviewed in order to provide a preliminary description of the preference for number and sex of children of 5 respondent groups - the youth, newly married couples, couples where the wife was at the peak of the childbearing period, menopausal women, and grandparents. The analysis undertaken included the Coombs preferences scales, cross tabulations, percentage distirubtion and mean. Preferences for the number of children by category, age and sex of respondent indicated an underlying preference for moderate to large families. A trend towards the preference for small families was evident among the female and male respondents in the youth category. The preference for the number of children appeared to be positively related to the age of respondent. Females tended to prefer slightly smaller family sizes than males. Male respondents preferred male children, and female respondents preferred female children.^ieng

The value of children: the old people's view.

PIP: Personal interviews were conducted with 104 menopausal women and 205 grandparents from selected Laguna Lake (Philippines) area municipalities in an effort to study the benefits and cost of children from the viewpoints of grandparents and menopausal women and to investigate how such costs and benefits are related to the respondents' perceptions of family size and family formation. The data collected included age, sex, desired number and sex of children in the respondent's family, ideal age at marriage in years, reasons for ideal age at marriage for males, ideal birth interval, and number and age of children when problems were experienced. The following were included among the survey results: 1) children were valued as sources of inspiration and happiness and as eventual sources of economic assistance along with the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction gained from watching the children grow and develop; 2) the disadvantages of having children fell under the categories of economic costs, emotional costs, and curtailment of freedoms; 3) the average desired family size of menopausal women was 4 children, and it was 5 children for grandparents; 4) the perceived ideal age at marriage of the respondents varied slightly; 5) an interval of 1-2 years between marriage and the birth of the 1st child was considered appropriate by 74% of the grandparents and by 63% of the menopausal women; and 6) economic costs of children and poor health were the primary reasons for the difficulties encountered by the respondents in raising their children.^ieng

The Filipino family in the year 2000.

PIP: Secondary sources of data from the National Demographic Surveys of 1968 and 1973 and National Censuses of 1903, 1939, 1948, 1960 and 1970 were used to present trends, patterns, and differentials in household size, structure and headship on the national and regional levels; changes in the stages of the family life cycle; trends in nuptiality during the 20th century on the national and regional levels; and nuptiality projections up to the year 2000. The analysis undertaken included means, percentages, ratios, projections, and comparisons of the results of the 2 surveys. Included among the results in terms of household size and structure, age composition of households, patterns and differentials in headship rates, life cycle of the family, and nuptiality were the following: 1) more than 1/2 of the households had 6 family members or more; 2) the most number of children occurred when the head of the family was between the ages of 24 and 44 years, when sex, urban-rural residence, and region were controlled; 3) an increasing trend in headship rates was exhibited by the single male and the widowed and divorced/separated female; 4) in 1973, the average interval between marriage and birth of the 1st child was 1.7 years; and 5) examination of past and recent regional nuptiality trends indicated a significant delay in age at marriage for females.^ieng