Interviewer instructions
Item IXX: Fertility
220 - These questions should be asked of all women ages twelve and above who have had children, no matter what the civil state was that they previously declared, including that of single.
221 - Annotate the total number of children they have had, born alive to the mothers, including in this number the children who have died before the census date, and excluding miscarriages/abortions and children born dead.
[pg. 29]
222 - If the person declares that they have not had any children, either alive or dead, annotate a zero on the respective dotted line on the Census Form.
223 - Remember that there is a tendency to forget or not declare children born alive who are no longer in the household with the mother, due to their being interned in a boarding school, or some other type of institution, or who live with other family members, as often occurs with children who were had from previous marriages or consensual unions.
224 - For this reason the enumerator should try to obtain the most precise number possible of the total number of children born alive to the mother. At the same time, the enumerator should employ the greatest prudence, ability, and discretion in asking these questions.
225 - In all cases, the fact that the enumerator suffers some rejection or irony from some families in asking these questions in reference to single women should not be a motive for them to stop asking such questions in all the households that they have to enumerate.
226 - Once the total number of children born alive to the mother has been annotate, the age, in completed years, at which the mother had her first child should also be annotate on the corresponding dotted line.
