Unmet Need for Contraceptive Autonomy
Married rural women frequently experience a discordance between their lower desired fertility goals and their higher actual childbearing due to financial constraints, restricted agency, and information deficits.
Picture this
Imagine attempting to navigate a road trip toward a preferred location, but a passenger holds the steering wheel and fuel money. Even when a woman desires fewer children, social expectations and lack of independent funds prevent her from purchasing and using chosen birth control methods.
What the evidence says
State data revealed 48% of married women aged 15-49 were unsterilized, 28% of whom used no contraception despite wanting fewer children; women reported wanting 1.6 children but had 1.99, producing a rural fertility gap of 0.43 children per woman.
- Who
- 9,600 households in rural Madhya Pradesh, India, with 57% of women aged 15-49. [2, 5]
- How
- Clustered Randomized Controlled Trial baseline survey paired with state-level reproductive health demographic data. [2, 4, 7]
What to do
Measure individual female fertility preferences against actual household childbearing metrics to identify regional gaps in contraceptive access and reproductive agency.
From the source
"Specifically, women across the state reported wanting 1.6 children but had 1.99, a gap of 0.39 children; in rural areas, the gap grew to 0.43 children per woman."
The_Impact_of_Womens_Employment_and_Control_over_Income_on_Family.pdf