IUSSP Panel on “Contraceptive Transition Theories” Produces PDR Supplement A supplement to Population and Development Review entitled “Contraceptive Transitions: Explanations and Evidence” (John Casterline & Suzana Cavenaghi, co-editors) was published in December. The supplement contains eight articles in total, plus a Foreword. All pieces are Open Access. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17284457/2024/50/S2 This edited collection was the work of the IUSSP Scientific Panel on “Contraceptive Transition Theories: Models for contemporary patterns of use” (John Casterline [Chair], Ann Biddlecom, Irene Casique Rodriguez, Suzana Cavenaghi, Jamaica Corker, Allen Kabagenyi, Nathalie Sawadogo, Chander Shekhar). The goals of this edited collection: The substantial increase in contraceptive use, particularly “modern” methods, since 1960 constitutes a revolutionary social and behavioral change. What accounts for population-level contraceptive transitions? Is there a universal pattern with variations in timing and rates of change from low to high rates of contraceptive use, or are there a wider range of pathways? And how are contraceptive transitions related to –or distinct from– fertility transitions? The Population and Development Review supplement includes a range of perspectives on contraceptive transitions and population-level contraceptive change, offering critical theoretical perspectives and research directions for understanding contraceptive transitions worldwide. The papers are distinguished by theoretical creativity, offering fresh insights that one could view as surprising given the decades of intense scientific, and policy, focus on contraceptive prevalence.
Article-by-article content is as follows:
Kantorová & Bongaarts, “Contraceptive Change and Fertility Transition”, provides an empirical backdrop, a description of contraceptive change in LMICs since 1970 and its association with fertility transition. Sawadogo et al., “Beyond Economics and Culture: A Demographic Perspective on Contraceptive Theory”, posits that more reliance on demographic concepts and models would advance our understanding of contraceptive transition.
Yeatman & Sennott, “Fertility Desires and Contraceptive Transition”, offers a synthesis and critique of the rich research literature on how change in fertility desires bears on contraceptive change.
Karra & Wilde, “Economic Foundations of Contraceptive Transitions: Theories and a Review of the Evidence”, provides a concise exposition of major strands of economic theory of contraceptive change. Corker et al., “Health Transitions and the Rise of Modern Contraceptive Prevalence: Demand, Access, and Choice”, extends theory on reproductive change and contraceptive transition to encompass the impact of multiple facets of health transition. Jejeebhoy & Sathar, “Revisiting Women's Empowerment and Contraception”, argues for a central place for gender systems and gender roles in theory of contraceptive transit. Lerch, “Societal Upheaval and the Contraceptive Transition”, tackles the intriguing question of how societal traumas (such as civil conflict and infectious disease pandemic) might affect contraceptive transition. Finlay, “A Narrative Review of the Impact of Public Family Planning Policies and Programs on the Contraceptive Transition in Low- and Middle-Income Countries”, reviews the empirical evidence on the net impact of family planning policies and programs on contraceptive change, a long-standing contested issue. | 