Household Organization, Women's Autonomy, and Contraceptive Behavior in Southern Ethiopia

TLDR

The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region of Ethiopia is a highly diverse, predominantly rural area with 11 million residents across more than 45 language and ethnic groups. The study investigates how household organization and women’s status shape contraceptive knowledge, use, and future needs, and what this means for population policy. Using data from 1990 and 1997 demographic surveys of married, fecund women aged 15–49, the authors examined contraceptive behavior, communication, and future demand. Household extension and polygamy do not affect contraceptive behavior, while women’s literacy and autonomy are the main forces driving lower fertility in the region.

Abstract

The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region of Ethiopia (SNNPR) is home to 11 million people constituting more than 45 language and ethnic groups, most of whom live in extremely poor rural communities. Data for currently married, fecund women aged 15–49 from demographic surveys conducted in the SNNPR in 1990 and 1997 are used to investigate contraceptive knowledge and communication, and the use and future need for family planning services in this population. This study focuses on how these processes are affected by household organization and women's status, and on their implications for population policies and programs. Considerations of the implications of these results for understanding the fertility transition of a highly diverse African population under severe stress are presented. Although household extension and polygamy characterize one‐third of the women sampled, they do not affect the women's contraceptive behavior. Women's literacy and autonomy are, by far, the most significant forces in the movement toward lower fertility in the region.