Unmet Need for Contraception

The concept of 'unmet need for contraception', which refers to the proportion of women who do not want to become pregnant but are not using contraception, has been used in the international population field since the 1960s. The concept was developed from the first family planning and fertility surveys conducted in developing countries, which found a disconnect between women's knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) about contraception. Unmet need for contraception is one of several frequently used indicators for monitoring of family planning programs, and was recently added to the millennium development goal of improving maternal health. Some other indicators that are used in combination with unmet need are the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR), the method mix, sources of contraceptive supplies, and reasons for not using contraception. In this note, authors deal mainly with the unmet need indicator, but believe that other indicators should also be part of monitoring and evaluation of family planning programs to broaden the understanding of the use of family planning in countries.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mills, Samuel, Bos, Ed, Suzuki, Emi
Language:English
Published: Washington, DC: World Bank 2010-03
Subjects:ACCESS TO CONTRACEPTION, ACCESS TO FAMILY PLANNING, ACCESS TO FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES, BEHAVIORAL CHANGE, BIRTH CONTROL, BIRTHS, CHILDBEARING, CONTRACEPTION, CONTRACEPTIVE, CONTRACEPTIVE METHOD, CONTRACEPTIVE METHODS, CONTRACEPTIVE PREVALENCE, CONTRACEPTIVE PREVALENCE RATE, CONTRACEPTIVE SUPPLIES, CONTRACEPTIVE USE, CONTRACEPTIVE USER, CONTRACEPTIVES, COSTS OF CONTRACEPTIVES, DEMAND FOR CONTRACEPTION, DEMAND FOR CONTRACEPTIVES, DEMAND FOR FAMILY PLANNING, DEMAND FOR FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, EDUCATED WOMEN, FAMILY MEMBERS, FAMILY PLANNING, FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAM, FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMS, FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES, FAMILY SIZE, FAMILY SIZES, FERTILITY, FERTILITY DECLINE, FERTILITY PREFERENCES, FERTILITY SURVEYS, FERTILITY TRANSITION, HEALTH EFFECTS, HEALTH INDICATORS, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUSBANDS, IMPLICATIONS FOR POPULATION POLICY, INFANT, INFANT MORTALITY, INFERTILITY, INFORMED CHOICES, INTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING, INTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING PERSPECTIVES, INTERNATIONAL POPULATION, INTERVENTION, LACK OF KNOWLEDGE, LARGE FAMILIES, LEVEL OF FERTILITY, LOW BIRTH WEIGHT, LOW FERTILITY, MARRIED WOMEN, MATERNAL HEALTH, MATERNAL MORTALITY, METHOD OF CONTRACEPTION, METHODS OF CONTRACEPTION, NEED FOR FAMILY PLANNING, NUMBER OF CHILDREN, POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT, POPULATION FIELD, POPULATION INFORMATION, POPULATION INFORMATION PROGRAM, PREGNANCY, PUBLIC HEALTH, RELIGIOUS REASONS, REPRODUCTIVE AGE, REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR, SEX, SMALLER FAMILIES, SPOUSE, SUPPLY OF CONTRACEPTIVES, UNMET NEED FOR CONTRACEPTION, UNMET NEED FOR FAMILY PLANNING, URBAN AREAS, USE OF CONTRACEPTION, USE OF FAMILY PLANNING, WOMAN,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2010/03/13120194/unmet-need-contraception
https://hdl.handle.net/10986/9462
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The concept of 'unmet need for contraception', which refers to the proportion of women who do not want to become pregnant but are not using contraception, has been used in the international population field since the 1960s. The concept was developed from the first family planning and fertility surveys conducted in developing countries, which found a disconnect between women's knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) about contraception. Unmet need for contraception is one of several frequently used indicators for monitoring of family planning programs, and was recently added to the millennium development goal of improving maternal health. Some other indicators that are used in combination with unmet need are the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR), the method mix, sources of contraceptive supplies, and reasons for not using contraception. In this note, authors deal mainly with the unmet need indicator, but believe that other indicators should also be part of monitoring and evaluation of family planning programs to broaden the understanding of the use of family planning in countries.