The effects of family planning workers' contact on fertility preferences: evidence from Bangladesh

Abstract

Should family planning programs put more effort into persuading couples to want smaller families or into helping women achieve their reproductive goals? Indeed, can family planning programs affect fertility preferences? Longitudinal data from Bangladesh collected from 1982 to 1993 show that women's desired family sizes have declined dramatically. This study examines how the decline in desired family size is related to visits from family planning workers for three intervals: 1982-85, 1985-90, and 1990-93. By use of logistic-regression analysis, the number of rounds during which women received visits from family planning workers is found to have no statistically significant effect on the probability that women altered their preference from wanting more children at the beginning of an interval to wanting no more at the end of the interval.

PIP: This study examines the relationship between the decline in desired family size and visits from family planning workers within three intervals (1982-85, 1985-90, and 1990-93) in Bangladesh. Data utilized were gathered from surveys conducted by the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Maternal and Child Health-Family Planning Extension Project. A logistic regression analysis was used to examine whether family planning workers' visit received during an interval had an effect on the probability that altered women's fertility preference. Results revealed that a number of rounds during which women received visits from family planning workers has no statistical significant effect on the probability that women altered their preference from wanting more children at the beginning of an interval to wanting no more at the end of the interval