Fertility intention and contraceptive use among males in Nigeria

Despite numerous reproductive health programmes on contraceptive use, many African countries still record low contraceptive prevalence and high levels of fertility. Studies have shown mismatch in fertility intention and subsequent reproductive behaviour of women. A possible explanation is the influence of male partners on contraceptive use and fertility outcomes. Could the fertility intention of males therefore predict contraceptive use and eventual fertility outcome in households? Using the 2008 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey male data, this study investigates if and the extent to which fertility intention of sexually active males in Nigeria influences their contraceptive use. Result show that only 9.3% of men in the analysis were using modern contraceptive methods while 15.9% wanted to limit and 34.9% wanted to space births. Fertility intention was found to be significantly associated with use of modern methods at both bivariate and multivariate levels. The implications of the findings were also discussed.