1. Home
  2. Vol 14, No 1 (2019)
  3. Hoq

Effects of Son Preference on Contraceptive Use in Bangladesh

Mohammad Nazmul Hoq

Abstract


Son preference resulting from traditional beliefs, social customs and economic benefits including support of aging parents is widespread not only in Bangladesh but also in many Asian and African countries, which are believed for low levels of contraceptive use. To carry out the research task effectively and efficiently, the research work extracted 16,858 currently married women aged 15-49 out of 17,863 ever-married women from a nationally representative 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey Data (BDHS, 2014) set. Levels of contraceptive prevalence rate of the respondents having only daughters is found only 48.4, which is remarkably lower than the national average (62.4) because of son preference. The analysis reveals that son preference is variant regarding of place of residence and socioeconomic background. Son preference is stronger among illiterate, nonworking women and women above 40 years of age. Moreover, Muslim women have a strong son preference than their Non-Muslim counterparts. The desire for sons can be reduced by making daughters and sons equally dear to parents and also in society.

Keywords


Contraception, son preference, socio-economic and demographic variables, Bangladesh

Full Text:

PDF

References


Huda FA, Robertson Y, Chowdhuri S, Sarker BK, Reichenbach L, Somrongthong R. Contraceptive practices among married women of reproductive age in Bangladesh: A review of the evidence. Reproductive Health. 2017; 14(1) :69.

Dasgumpta ANG, Zaba B, Crampin AC. Contraceptive dynamics in rural Northern Malawi: A prospective longitudinal study. International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. 2015; 41(3): 145-154.

Barcellos S, Carvalho L, Lleras-Muney A. Child gender and parental investments in India: Are boys and girls treated differently?. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. 2014; 6(1): 157-189.

Begum L, Grossman PJ, Islam A. Gender bias in parental attitude: An experimental approach. Demography. 2018; 55(5): 1641-1662.

Nakirijja DS, Kayiso MI. Socio-economic determinants of access to and utilization of contraception among rural women in Uganda: The case of Wakiso District. Health Sci J. 2018; 12(6): 608.

Channon MD. Son preference, parity progression and contraceptive use in South Asia. Population Horizons. 2015; 12(1): 24-36.

Van de Poel E, O’Donnell O, Van Doorslaer E. What explains the rural-urban gap in infant mortality: Household or community characteristics?. Demography. 2009; 46(4): 827–850.

Hesketh T, Lu L, Xing ZW. The consequences of son preference and sex-selective abortion in China and other Asian countries. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2011; 183(12): 1374–1377.

Jayachandran S. Fertility decline and missing women. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. 2017; 9 (1): 118-39.

Brunson J. Son preference in the context of fertility decline: Limits to new constructions of gender and kinship in Nepal. Studies in Family Planning. 2010; 41(2): 89-98.

Sekher TV, Hatti N, Bhat P. From “fertility control” to “gender control,” Evidences of daughter discrimination in rural south India. In T. V. Sekher & N. Hatti (Eds.), Unwanted Daughter. Jaipur, India: Rawat Publications; 2010. p. 75-103.

Raspberry KA, Skinner D. Negotiating desires and options: How mothers who carry the fragile X gene experience reproductive decisions. Social Science & Medicine. 2011; 72(6): 992-998.

Deb S. Gender roles in family decision making: Results from Indian states. Paper presented at 18th annual conference on global economic analysis, organized by centre for global trade analysis (Perdue University) and centre for policy studies held at Melbourne convention center, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia on 17-19 June 2015; 2015. Available from : https://www.gtap.agecon.purdue.edu/resources/ download/7401.pdf

National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT). Mitra and associate and ORC macro. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2007. Dhaka, March ; 2009. Available from: https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR207/FR207[April-10-2009].pdf

National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT). Mitra and associate and ORC macro. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2011. Dhaka, January ; 2013. Available from: https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/fr265/fr265.pdf

National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT). Mitra and associate and ORC macro. Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2014. Dhaka, March ; 2016. Available from: https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR311/FR311.pdf

Jayachandran S, Pande R. Why are Indian children so short? The role of birth order and son preference. American Economic Review. 2017; 107(9): 2600-2629.

Rajan S, Nanda P, Calhoun LM, Speizer IS. Sex composition and its impact on future childbearing: A longitudinal study from urban Uttar Pradesh. Reproductive Health. 2018; 15(1): 35.

Larsson C, Stanfors M. Women’s education, empowerment, and contraceptive use in Sub-Saharan Africa: Findings from recent demographic and health surveys. African Population Studies. 2014; 28(2): 1022–1034.

Alano A, Hanson L. Women’s perception about contraceptive use benefits towards empowerment: A phenomenological study in Southern Ethiopia. PloS ONE. 2018; 13(9): e0203432. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203432.

Islam AZ, Mondal MNI, Khatun ML, Rahman MM, Islam MR, Mostofa MG, Hoque MN. Prevalence and determinants of contraceptive use among employed and unemployed women in Bangladesh. Int J MCH AIDS. 2016;5(2):92-102. Availavle from : doi: 10.21106/ijma.83

Paudel YR, Acharya K. Fertility limiting intention and contraceptive use among currently married men in Nepal: Evidence from Nepal demographic and health survey 2016. BioMed Research International ; 2018. Available from : https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/5970705.

Obasohan PE. Religion, ethnicity, and contraceptive use among reproductive age women in Nigeria. International Journal of MCH and AIDS. 2015; 3(1): 63–73.

Asiimwe JB, Ndugga P, Mushomi J, Ntozi JPM. Factors associated with modern contraceptive use among young and older women in Uganda: A comparative analysis. BMC Public Health. 2014; 14: 926. Available from : doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-926

Gubhaju B. The influence of wives' and husbands' education levels on contraceptive method choice in Nepal, 1996-2006. International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. 2009; 35(4):176–185.

Agadjanian V. Religious denomination, religious involvement, and modern contraceptive use in Southern Mozambique. Stud Fam Plann. 2013;44(3):259–274. Available from : doi:10.1111/j.1728-4465.2013.00357.x

Kibria GMA, Burrowes V, Majumder S, Sharmeen A, Barsha RAA, Hossen S. Scaling up contraceptives use in the division with lowest contraceptives use in Bangladesh: Sources, methods, and determinants. Matern Health Neonatol Perinatol;2017. Available from :

doi:10.1186/s40748-017-0049-x.

Aragaw KA. Application of logistic regression in determining the factors influencing the use of modern contraceptive among married women in Ethiopia. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics. 2015; 4(3): 56-162. Available from : doi: 10.11648/j.ajtas.20150403.21




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21109/kesmas.v14i1.2848

Refbacks