Women’s empowerment and current contraceptive use among married women in Punjab

Abstract

Background: It is well-known fact that less empowered married women have less uptake of contraception. Indicators of women’s empowerment and demographic characteristics have strong influence on current use of contraceptive methods. The core objective of this paper is to assess the relationship between the indicators of women’s empowerment (women’s participation in household decision making, ownership of assets and control over her income) and current contraceptive use. Methods and Materials: In the PDHS2017-18, 10825 married women of reproductive age (15-49 years) were covered in the province of Punjab, Province. Association between indicators of women’s empowerment and current contraceptive use are showed by using descriptive analysis, Cross-tabulation and Chi-Square test. Multi-variate binary logistic regression is performed to assess the net effect of indicators of women’s empowerment and background characteristics on the current use of contraceptive methods. Results: Results show that women’s empowerment is a recognized tool to improve the current use of contraceptive. It is also observed that women who have not participation in household decision making, women who have not ownership of any assets and women who have not control over own income have less use of any contraceptive methods.