Causal Relationship Between Women’s Fertility Desires and Contraceptive Use: An Investigation Through Urban Health Initiative, Uttar Pradesh, India

Ujjaval Srivastava , Banaras Hindu University
Anjali Singh, Banaras Hindu University
Kaushalendra K. Singh, Banaras Hindu University

This study explores how the change in fertility desires influence the change in use of modern contraception over time in six cities (Agra, Aligarh, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Moradabad and Varanasi) of Uttar Pradesh, India. For this purpose the study uses the longitudinal data (baseline-2010; endline-2014) of Measurement, Learning and Evaluation Project for Urban Health Initiative in Uttar Pradesh. Bivariate and multivariate generalized estimating equations were applied to get odds for change in use of modern contraceptives over time. At baseline and follow up, women who desired no more children reported higher use of modern contraception, compared with those who desired more children over time. The significance of F-test shows that the change in use of modern contraception among women with different fertility desires over time was not similar for all the considered cities. Our results differed across city shows that city-specific variations matters and recommends to focus on ambivalent fertility desire.

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 Presented in Session 10. Fertility, Family Planning, Sexual Behavior & Reproductive Health 2