Contraceptive Use and the Quality, Price, and Availability of Family Planning in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria has experienced high fertility and rapid population growth for at least the past thirty years. Only recently have public authorities launched efforts to promote contraceptive use. In this article, individual women are linked to the characteristics of the nearest health facility, pharmacy, and source of family planning to assess the relative importance of women's socioeconomic background and the characteristics of nearby services on contraceptive use. The results suggest that the limited levels of female schooling (and probably other factors affecting women's opportunity cost of time) are constraining contraceptive use, especially in rural areas. Another major constraint to increased contraceptive use is the low availability of family planning services in Nigeria. Broader availability of the pill and other methods in pharmacies and of injectables and intrauterine devices (IUDs) in health facilities is likely to raise contraceptive use. Outpatient or consultation fees at nearby health facilities do not appear to be constraining demand for modern contraceptive methods.