title: On the estimation of the distribution of desired family size for a synthetic cohort.
abstract: Abstract   Current procedures for the estimation of the desired family size distribution from parity-specific data on proportions of women wanting another child are shown to be biased. A new procedure is proposed. This procedure is based on the underlying relationship between parity and desired family size as measured by the extent to which members of the population implement their fertility preferences. Numerical examples are given.
authors.affiliation: a      Department of Biostatistics   ,  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill   ,  Chapel Hill ,  N.C. ,    U.S.A.
authors.forename: el-S
authors.initials: el-S
authors.lastname: Nour