Survival Analysis of Time to First Birth after Marriage

Abstract

Of the joy and challenges people face in life, there is none which is more extraordinary than having a first child. The expectation of most women, especially married couples, is to have a child and the longer they keep without a child, the more frustrated they become. By using Non parametric survival analysis techniques and data from the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS), this study considered only women of childbearing age (15-49 years), who went into marriage without a child or a pregnancy. The results showed that, at 0.1% level of significance, whether the wife had ever had an induced abortion or not, and her region of residence, are significant determinants of the waiting time to first birth for married women: Significant educational and family income differentials were also observed in the study.  The results also show that, while most women (about 74%) have their first birth within the first three years of marriage, some women have their first child even after 10 years in marriage.

Keywords: Fertility, Waiting times, Pregnancy, Marriage, Survival