[Birth expectations of males and females]

This study is concerned with the extent to which the inclusion of males improves the accuracy of birth expectations data in fertility surveys. "Several studies were compared in order to find an answer to this question. Most surveys, in which both males and females are interviewed, show that very often spouses disagree on the future number of children, depending on the number of children they have already and particularly on the duration of marriage. On an aggregate level, however, the results for males and females show remarkably less disagreement because of averaging-out-mechanisms. Three Dutch studies of 1969, 1975 and 1980 confirm these findings." The general conclusion is that surveys that include responses from women only can be considered highly reliable. (summary in ENG)