Contextual Influences on Contraception Use Among Poor Women in Pakistan

Abstract

The current study aims to use bioecological theory to examine the effects of different contextual factors such as husbands’ desire for children, visit by a family planning worker, media messages, and province level on women’s use of contraception in Pakistan. Two cross-sectional data sets were taken from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Surveys (PDHS), conducted in 2006–07 and 2012–13, which included 3,811 and 4,871 currently married, lower socioeconomic status (SES) women aged 15–49 years, respectively. Using logistic regression, the results showed that women’s perception of a husband’s desire for children and visit by family planning workers were significant predictors of women’s use of contraception in both periods (i.e. PDHS 2006–07 and PDHS, 2012–13). Specifically, those women who had a desire for children similar to their husband were more likely to use contraception than those who either were not sure about their husband’s desire for children or whose desire for children was less or more than their husband. Moreover, those women who had at least one visit from a family planning worker during the 12 months prior to the survey were more likely to use contraception than their counterparts.

Citation

Raza, H., van Eeden-Moorefield, B., Lee, S. and Lieberman, L. (2019), "Contextual Influences on Contraception Use Among Poor Women in Pakistan", Costa, R.P. and Blair, S.L. (Ed.) Childbearing and the Changing Nature of Parenthood: The Contexts, Actors, and Experiences of Having Children (Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research, Vol. 14), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 53-77. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1530-353520190000014003