Women’s Social Network and use of Family Planning Methods in Rural Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Although fertility has declined across several Indian states of late, with varying historical
points of onset and pace of decline, women in Uttar Pradesh on average, still bear around
four children in their reproductive lifetime due to the interplay of a complex set of socioeconomic, demographic and cultural factors. However, little attempt has been made in the
past to examine the role of diffusion, aside from the standard set of socioeconomic factors
in influencing fertility change in the Indian context. Using a unique ego-centric social network
data, present study examine the informal interpersonal social network effect on the adoption
of contraceptive and method choice among 567 currently married women in reproductive
age groups in rural India. Bivariate and multivariate techniques were employed for data analysis.
Findings suggest that social interaction appears to be a significant predictor of contraceptive
method use among women after adjusting for pertinent socio-economic and demographic
covariates.