Determinant of Desire for an Additional Child: A Measure of Sex Preference Islam Sabina*, Paul Gowranga Kumar** *Professor & Head, Department of Statistics, Shahjalal University of Science & Technology (SUST), Sylhet, Bangladesh **Lecturer, Department of Statistics, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University (MBSTU), Tangail, Bangladesh Online published on 15 April, 2014. Abstract Bangladesh has achieved a remarkable success in controlling population growth without much change in socio-economic conditions but yet to reach at the replacement level fertility. In this study an attempt has been made to examine the effects of selected socio-cultural characteristics on desire for additional children among couples in Bangladesh using the data of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2007. The findings reveal that gender composition of existing children, number of living children, religion, place of residence, working status has significant effect to determine the fertility intention of the couples. The desire for additional children is highest when respondents have only one child may be because of the encouragement of two-child family norm in Bangladesh. Women who have two or more daughters but no son desire more additional children than women who have two or more sons but no daughter indicating strong son preference still exists among couples in Bangladesh. Top Keywords Desire additional child, Living children, Sex preference, Gender composition, Replacement level fertility. Top |