Description
BIRTHCERT_ALL indicates whether the respondent's child has a birth certificate.
BIRTHCERT_ALL consists of a set of up to six separate variables, covering the most recent birth (BIRTHCERT_01) up to the sixth-most-recent birth (i.e., BIRTHCERT_02, BIRTHCERT_03, BIRTHCERT_04, BIRTHCERT_05, and BIRTHCERT_06) during the reference period prior to the survey. If BIRTHCERT_ALL is included in a data extract, all these separate variables are included in a researcher's data file.
Information for this variable was collected on all births, up to a maximum of six, in the reference period. In many cases, data were hypothetically collected on up to six births, but no women in the survey had so many births (e.g., no woman had 4 or more births in 3 years, or had 5 or 6 births in 5 years). If, for example, no woman in a survey had 6 births in five years and only blank values were included in the original DHS file, then BIRTHCERT_06 would not be available for that survey in IPUMS-DHS.
Comparability
Along with universe differences and variation in question wording, BIRTHCERT_ALL differs across samples in the number of response categories. Some samples include only two response categories, "Yes" (code "200") and "No" (code "100"). Other samples include additional response categories, distinguishing between, "Yes, seen" and "Yes, not seen," for example.
To maximize comparability, IPUMS-DHS uses composite coding with "No" having a first digit of "1" and "Yes" having a first digit of "2." The second and third digits distinguish between more detailed responses, when this additional information is available.
Comparability - Standard DHS
BIRTHCERT_ALL is a country-specific variable, and it is not included in any phase of the standard DHS questionnaire.
Universe
- Benin 2001: Women age 15-49 whose last-born children under age 5 is still alive.
- Benin 2006: Women age 15-49 whose last-born children under age 5 is still alive.
- Burkina Faso 2003: Women age 15-49 who gave birth in the 5 years before the survey.
- Egypt 2000: Ever-married women age 15-49 whose last-born children under age 5 is still alive.
- Egypt 2003: Ever-married women age 15-49 whose last-born children under age 5 is still alive.
- Egypt 2005: Ever-married women age 15-49 whose last-born children under age 5 is still alive.
- Egypt 2008: Ever-married women age 15-49 whose last-born children under age 5 is still alive.
- Egypt 2014: Ever-married women age 15-49 whose last-born children under age 5 is still alive.
- Kenya 2003: Women age 15-49 who gave birth in the 5 years before the survey.
- Madagascar 2003: Women age 15-49 who gave birth in the 5 years before the survey.
- Namibia 2000: Women age 15-49 whose last-born children under age 5 is still alive.
- Senegal 2015: Women age 15-49 who gave birth in the 5 years before the survey.
- Senegal 2016: Women age 15-49 who gave birth in the 5 years before the survey.
- Senegal 2017: Women age 15-49 who gave birth in the 5 years before the survey, whose last-born child was weighed at birth.
- Tanzania 1999: Women age 15-49 whose last-born children under age 5 is still alive.
- Tanzania 2004: Women age 15-49 who gave birth in the 5 years before the survey.
- Tanzania 2010: Women age 15-49 who gave birth in the 5 years before the survey.
- Tanzania 2015: Women age 15-49 whose last-born children under age 5 is still alive.
- Uganda 2001: Women age 15-49 who gave birth in the 5 years before the survey, whose last-born child was weighed at birth and whose birth was registered.
- Zimbabwe 1999: Women age 15-49 who gave birth in the 5 years before the survey, whose last-born child's birth was registered.
