Abstract

PIP: Data from the 1981 Contraceptive Prevalence Survey (CPS) in Bangladesh were analyzed to identify and facilitate understanding of the factors responsible for urban-rural differentials in contraceptive use. The information was collected from a nationally representative sample of ever married women under 50 years. A 3-stage stratified cluster sampling design was used. A total of 196 sample areas were considered of which 116 were rural and 80 urban. The total number of households in the sample was 7393 -- 5455 rural and 1938 urban. 6269 rural and 2241 ever married eligible women were interviewed. The level of knowledge of at least 1 traditional contraceptive method was 61% for urban and 55% for rural women. The level of ever use of any specific contraceptive method was about 49% in urban and 34% in rural areas. The oral contraceptive (OC) was the most popular method of contraception in both the urban (26%) and in the rural (12.1%) areas. The popularity of other methods also varied between urban and rural residents. The higher use of some specific methods in urban areas possibly was a function of the greater avilability and accessibility of methods. The percentage of women who have ever used contraception in urban areas ranged from 27.8% at the ages of 15-19 to 59.9% at the ages of 35-39. At the ages of 40-44, the proportion of women who have ever used contraception declined by almost 14% from ages 35-39 and by as much as 20% after 44. Women in rural areas also were found to have ever used contraception at a lower rate than urban women at all age groups. In general, younger and older married women were less likely to have ever used contraception than women aged 20-39. In rural Bangladesh, more educated women and women who were employed with cash payment were more likely than other women to have ever used family planning. Women who never attended school were least likely to practice family planning (34% in urban areas and 30% in rural areas). In the urban areas more or less a U-shaped pattern was observed between the level of education and the ever use rate. Differentials by employment status show that those who were not employed had the highest use rate compared to those employed with or without cash. The average number of methods ever used was 2.0 by urban women and 1.7 by rural women. This difference may be explained in terms of accessibility and availability of family planning methods. The rate of current users of any methods was estimated to be 29.2% in the urban and 17.5% in the rural areas. The analysis shows that contraceptive use was substantially higher in urban than in rural areas. The rural-urban differences could be due in part to differences in educational attainment of the women in the 2 areas. Ever user rates have increased considerably in both areas compared to the 1979 CPS.