Social class differentials and contraceptive use dynamics in Brazil

Although progress has been observed in Brazilian social mobility in recent years, significant social deficits are still recognizable. In light of this finding we propose to identify how patterns in reproductive and contraceptive practices are formed in accordance with belonging to different social classes using the 1996 and 2006 National Demographic and Health Survey (PNDS) data. Although the PNDS lacks data typically employed for classifying individuals in social class, this survey has important information about reproductive histories, reproductive intentions, contraceptive practice, among other information. To work with the concept of class we will adjust the Wealth Index, an indicator of socioeconomic status that takes into account features and services to which the household has or has access to it. We aim at highlighting the differences in reproductive patterns and contraceptive practices on the basis of social class. The aim of this paper is therefore to link reproductive patterns and contraceptive practice to membership to a certain social class. More specifically, we propose to use an empirical concept of social class that takes into account more than income and assets. Thus we will use more than economic factors to account for the multiple facets of the concept of social class applied to the Brazilian reality.