Women’s social networks and contraceptive method choice in rural Uttar Pradesh, India

Fertility has declined across several Indian states of late (1970s), with varying historical points of onset and pace of decline. Women in Uttar Pradesh still bear four children due to interplay of socioeconomic, demographic and cultural factors. Rarely role of diffusion was examined in precipitating fertility change in the India. To investigate the role of women’s social network towards determining contraceptive method choice in rural Uttar Pradesh, India. The study is based on egocentric social network data from 567 women 18-35 years. The results indicate weak association between discussion on matters of family planning (MoFP) and contraceptive method use. However, adjusting for interaction term, the discussion of MoFP and density of SNP discourage women to use contraceptive methods. This suggests operation of social influence to sustain high fertility in the study area.