Literal question
[Questions 34- 41 were asked of persons age 14 or older]
(If the person is younger than 14, go to section E.2).
38. During your lifetime, did you have any live birth child?
[] 1 Yes
[] 2 No (go to section E.2)
Interviewer instructions
38. During your lifetime, did you give birth to any live children?
This question is asked to men and women age 14 or older.
The objective is to obtain information about the fertility of the men and women who live in Uruguay, the information will be useful if the question is answered by all the people, men and women age 14 or older, whatever the conjugal situation. It's crucial to record information for every person, whether or not they have children. Not having had children is information very relevant for the study of the fertility of the population.
It is important that the question is posed exactly as it is written on the form. Only record cases of live birth. A live birth is understood as showing signs of life (cried, breathed, moved) at the moment of birth. If after the birth the child died, it will still be considered as a live birth. All children, including those had with other partners, living or not living in the household interviewed, should be considered. Stillborn children should not be considered.
It can happen that the person declares that he or she has an adopted son or daughter. Adopted children should not be recorded in this question. The objective is to measure the number of biological children had by the respondent. Similarly, given that the biological mother or father of the adopted child will declare the live birth, there is a risk of double-counting this child as a live birth. If the person shows feelings of exclusion or irritation, remind him that the adopted children are included as forming a part of the family, in the relationship of kinship that includes all the children, biological or adopted.
If the person declares that he has not had any children born alive, questions 39 to 41 should not be asked.
39. How many?
If the person declares having had children born alive, ask and record the number of children born alive. This question will be asked to men as well as women.
Only women will be asked the following questions about fertility, so, for men, after the total number of children born alive has been asked you will go to question 42 (E.2).
For women, you will ask, how many of [the children]:
Live in this household _ _
Live in a different household in Uruguay _ _
Live abroad _ _
Have passed away _ _
If after asking this question it is apparent that the total number of live-born children does not coincide with the number declared in the previous question, correct the number noted in the previous question.
For various reasons, it is common that people, especially older people and people who have had many children, tend to forget the total number of children theu have had throughout life, especially if a child passed away when it was very young. When the situation of each child is detailed, it can be that the women remember children who they had not included in the total number of live births previously declared.
If the woman is between ages 14 and 49, the following questions about fertility (40 and 41) should be asked. In these conditions are not satisfied, go to the following module.
