Questionnaire Text

Questionnaire form view entire document:  text  image

6. Number of children. ____

For women 12 years of age and older.

Write the number of children born alive, excluding those stillborn.
Questionnaire instructions view entire document:  text  image

Column 6: Number of children. This question should be asked only of all women 12 years old or older. Record the total number of children born alive, including children who have died and excluding both aborted children and stillborn children. If one reports not to have had any children born alive or who have died, draw a short horizontal line. The question should be asked of all women over the age specified [12 or over], without taking into account the marital status they have reported.

It should be noted that there is a tendency to forget or not report live-born children who are not at home with the mother, because of living at teaching establishments or living with other relatives, which tends to happen with children from previous marriages and consensual unions.

For this reason, the enumerator should try to obtain the most precise figure possible of the total number of live-born children the mothers have had. At the same time, they must use extreme courtesy and discretion when asking the question. Despite everything, just because someone refuses to answer or criticizes the enumerator's questions about possible children of a single mother, this should not be a reason to stop asking the same question in all households to be enumerated, explaining that this is a necessary piece of data in order to know the fertility in our country.