Factors Influencing Couples’ Unmet Need for Contraception in Kenya
population health
21
Issue: 2
(10 - 2006)
Many studies on unmet need have been women-based with some passing inferences made for
men and couples yet reproductive decisions are not made by women alone, but are dyadic in
nature. This paper examines couple’s unmet need for contraception in Kenya by using the
married couple as the unit of analysis, rather than the individual man or woman. The paper
specifically estimates couple’s unmet need and identifies factors that have influenced this. The
data used is from the matched couple data derived from the Kenya Demographic and Health
Survey, 1998 (KDHS). Only fecund couples in monogamous unions are included in the
analysis. The results give the total couple’s unmet need of 16.5 percent (which is 7.5 percent
lower than the level of unmet need for currently married women and 3.7 percent higher than
the Bankole-Ezeh estimate of couples’ unmet need, using 1993 KDHS). About 7 percent of
this accounted for unmet need for limiting while 9.8 percent accounted for unmet need for
spacing. In terms of factors influencing couple’s unmet needs, region of residence, ethnicity,
number of living children and couples’ discussion of and other reproductive health issues,
were the most significant predictors of couples’ unmet need. In order to reduce the unmet
need, region specific programs should be emphasized and that couple’s should be encouraged
to make joint decisions on reproductive health issues.
Key Words: Kenya, unmet need, reproductive health, contraception, couple,
family planning
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