Economic security, informational resources, and women's reproductive choices in urban Mozambique

Abstract

Reproductive changes in sub-Saharan Africa are contingent upon women's socioeconomic conditions and informational and cultural resources. This study focuses on socioeconomic and cultural determinants and correlates of the intention to stop childbearing and of contraceptive use among urban women in Mozambique. It uses data from a survey of 1,585 married women conducted in Greater Maputo in 1993, and it employs logistic regression for multivariate analysis. The results of the analysis indicate that although the stopping intention and contraceptive use are interrelated and similarly affected by such factors as education or the area of residence, the intention to stop childbearing is mainly driven by women's perception of their material conditions and socioeconomic security, while contraceptive use is largely a product of social diffusion and the legitimization of innovative, Western-origin information and technologies. The study proposes that these findings may help explain the unique features of the fertility transition in sub-Saharan Africa.

PIP: Reproductive changes in sub-Saharan Africa depend upon women's socioeconomic conditions, as well as their informational and cultural resources. Reproductive changes have been most marked in sub-Saharan cities because compared to small-town and rural residents, urban residents have greater exposure to and choice among alternate economic strategies, cultural styles, and social networking. The socioeconomic and cultural determinants and correlates of the intention to stop childbearing and of contraceptive use were assessed among 1585 married, urban women surveyed in 1993 in Greater Maputo. Each woman had recently given birth. Multivariate analysis determined that while the women's intentions to stop childbearing and use contraception were interrelated and affected by factors such as education and the area of residence, the intention to stop childbearing was mainly driven by the women's perception of their material conditions and socioeconomic security, and contraceptive use was mainly a product of social diffusion and influences by innovative, Western-origin information and technologies.