Definition
KIDDESIRE (V605) is a constructed variable that distinguishes between women who want another child soon (in less than two years), who want another child later (in 2+ years), who want no more children, and who aren't sure (about timing or about the number of children desired).
When children are chosen as the unit of analysis, the woman respondent indicates the mother of the child.
The construction of this variable has changed across phases of the DHS and varies across countries (only sometimes distinguishing between groups of women not at risk of pregnancy due to sterilization, infecundity, or virginity). To maximize comparability across samples, IPUMS-DHS employs composite coding. Women who want more children share a common first digit of 1, women not at risk of pregnancy share a common first digit of 6, and detail present in only some samples is specified in the code's second digit.