Association between economic status and fertility regulation among couples- An evidence from India

Indian Family Planning programme has bestowed great deal of responsibility on women over the past five decades. However, it is well known that fertility decision making in traditional rural and patriarchal societies to a great deal be influenced by husbands and other family members. We examine the factors related to the use of contraception and preferred duration of child spacing among economically poor and nonpoor couples in India.

We use the couple data (N=39257) from the third round of National Family Health Survey (Indian version of DHS) conducted in 2005-06. We use wealth index and clubbed the lowest two categories of wealth index (poorest & poorest) to define poor and highest three categories (middle, richer & richest) to define nonpoor couples. We used logistic regression models to predict the likelihood of contraceptive use among couples. We also used ordered logistic regression models to examine the effect of socioeconomic and demographic factors on the length of child spacing.

We found significant differences in the use of contraceptive methods and preferred duration of birth interval among poor and non-poor couples in India. On average, poor couples are more likely to have sorter birth interval and opted for sterilization to restrict child bearing. On the contrary, couples from nonpo