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Impact Of Agreement On Fertility Preferences Between Spouses On Their Contraceptive Use

Minakshi Vishwakarma, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Chander Shekhar, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Akhilesh Yadav, Banaras Hindu University

The difference in agreement between spouses affects the couple's reproductive behavior including contraception use. This study aims to estimate the impact of the agreement on the ideal number of children, desire to have more children, and desired waiting time between spouses on their contraceptive use. The study utilize matched couple file from the last two rounds of the National Family Health Survey. We used bivariate and propensity score matching analysis to fulfill the objective. The agreement on the ideal number of children between couples increases the odds of using modern contraceptives by 9 %. The average treatment effect on treated of concordance to not have more children on contraceptive use is 13 %. While the concordance to wait for more than two for the next child between couples increases the odds of contraceptive use by 16 %. Similar fertility preferences and intentions increase the chance of contraceptive use. More couple-oriented counseling programs should be initiated so that both husband and wife can understand each other's reproductive preferences and can fulfill their reproductive need without compromising others.

Keywords: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Family planning and contraception, Demographic and social surveys

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  Presented in Session 57. Key Factors Influencing Family Planning and Maternal Health Services in India