IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/popdev/v50y2024is1p395-419.html

COVID‐19 and Contraceptive Use in Two African Countries: Examining Conflicting Pressures on Women

Author

Listed:
  • Jiao Yu
  • Kathryn Grace
  • Elizabeth Heger Boyle
  • Jude P. Mikal
  • Matthew Gunther
  • Devon Kristiansen

Abstract

Women in Africa may have experienced conflicting pressures during the COVID‐19 pandemic. While the unpredictable nature of the pandemic was prompting some women to delay pregnancies, the pandemic was potentially limiting access to reproductive health services due to supply shortages, fears of virus exposure, and mobility restrictions. In this study, we used longitudinal data from Kenya and Burkina Faso and applied a multilevel perspective to better understand the factors contributing to change or persistence in contraceptive use during the early months of the pandemic. We found a marginal increase in contraceptive uptake in the early days of the pandemic. Multilevel logistic regression results revealed that interpersonal trust and accurate knowledge of COVID‐19 precautions were associated with a greater likelihood of initiating contraception. These factors appeared to have provided women with confidence to navigate the complicated COVID‐19 landscape. At the same time, we observed a decrease in contraceptive use in regions with high COVID‐19 cases, suggesting the virus was limiting access to contraception in some contexts. These findings highlighted the need for public health officials to ensure that women have the necessary knowledge and ability to safely access contraception during public health crises, when overall demand for contraception may be increasing.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiao Yu & Kathryn Grace & Elizabeth Heger Boyle & Jude P. Mikal & Matthew Gunther & Devon Kristiansen, 2024. "COVID‐19 and Contraceptive Use in Two African Countries: Examining Conflicting Pressures on Women," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 50(S1), pages 395-419, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:popdev:v:50:y:2024:i:s1:p:395-419
    DOI: 10.1111/padr.12606
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12606
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/padr.12606?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kathryn Grace, 2017. "Considering climate in studies of fertility and reproductive health in poor countries," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 7(7), pages 479-485, July.
    2. Linnea A Zimmerman & Celia Karp & Mary Thiongo & Peter Gichangi & Georges Guiella & Alison Gemmill & Caroline Moreau & Suzanne O Bell, 2022. "Stability and change in fertility intentions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya," PLOS Global Public Health, Public Library of Science, vol. 2(3), pages 1-18, March.
    3. Letícia J. Marteleto & Abigail Weitzman & Raquel Zanatta Coutinho & Sandra Valongueiro Alves, 2017. "Women's Reproductive Intentions and Behaviors during the Zika Epidemic in Brazil," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 43(2), pages 199-227, June.
    4. Moussa BOUGMA & Clémentine ROSSIER, 2022. "The role of family networks and social capital on women's fertility intentions in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 88(2), pages 237-255, June.
    5. Tomáš Sobotka & Vegard Skirbekk & Dimiter Philipov, 2011. "Economic Recession and Fertility in the Developed World," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 37(2), pages 267-306, June.
    6. Bougma, Moussa & Rossier, Clémentine, 2022. "The role of family networks and social capital on women's fertility intentions in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso," Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 88(2), pages 237-255, June.
    7. Connor, Jade & Madhavan, Sarina & Mokashi, Mugdha & Amanuel, Hanna & Johnson, Natasha R. & Pace, Lydia E. & Bartz, Deborah, 2020. "Health risks and outcomes that disproportionately affect women during the Covid-19 pandemic: A review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lazzari, Ester & Reimondos, Anna & Gray, Edith, 2022. "Childbearing desires before and after the Covid-19 outbreak in Australia: Who changed their attitudes toward having a first or additional child?," SocArXiv qbgmp, Center for Open Science.
    2. Rangel, Marcos & Nobles, Jenna & Hamoudi, Amar, 2019. "Brazil's Missing Infants: Zika Risk Changes Reproductive Behavior," SocArXiv fu8bp, Center for Open Science.
    3. Marcos A. Rangel & Jenna Nobles & Amar Hamoudi, 2020. "Brazil’s Missing Infants: Zika Risk Changes Reproductive Behavior," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(5), pages 1647-1680, October.
    4. Letícia J. Marteleto & Gilvan Guedes & Raquel Z. Coutinho & Abigail Weitzman, 2020. "Live Births and Fertility Amid the Zika Epidemic in Brazil," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(3), pages 843-872, June.
    5. Letícia J. Marteleto & Sneha Kumar & Molly Dondero & Luiz Gustavo Fernandes Sereno, 2024. "Fertility Intentions During the Covid‐19 Pandemic: An Analysis of Individual‐ and Municipality‐Level Determinants," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 50(S1), pages 213-242, July.
    6. repec:osf:socarx:fu8bp_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Dmitriy Gorskiy, 2023. "The maternity capital and probability of second birth in Russia: Explaining the last 10 Years' fertility patterns," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2023 30, Stata Users Group.
    8. Nicholas Campisi & Hill Kulu & Júlia Mikolai & Sebastian Klüsener & Mikko Myrskylä, 2024. "Urban–Rural Disparities in the Transition to Parenthood During Times of Uncertainty: A Multilevel Perspective on Finland," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 40(1), pages 1-31, December.
    9. Garrett Anstreicher, 2025. "Family Formation and the Great Recession," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 77-115, December.
    10. Caroline Krafft, 2020. "Why is fertility on the rise in Egypt? The role of women’s employment opportunities," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(4), pages 1173-1218, October.
    11. Angela Luci-Greulich & Olivier Thévenon, 2013. "The Impact of Family Policies on Fertility Trends in Developed Countries," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 29(4), pages 387-416, November.
    12. Arnaud Chevalier & Olivier Marie, 2013. "Economic Uncertainty, Parental Selection, and the Criminal Activity of the "Children of the Wall"," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 605, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    13. Tsung Huang & Tsun-Feng Chiang & Jiun-Nan Pan, 2015. "Fertility and Crime: Evidence from Spatial Analysis of Taiwan," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 319-327, September.
    14. Nicoletta Balbo & Francesco C. Billari & Melinda Mills, 2013. "Fertility in Advanced Societies: A Review of Research," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 29(1), pages 1-38, February.
    15. Combs, Elizabeth K. & Crouse, Sean R. & Bell, Katherine D. & Truong, Dothang, 2024. "Willingness to Fly during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    16. Yu-Hu LIN & Wen-Yi CHEN, 2018. "On the Relationship between Business Cycle and Fertility Rate in Taiwan: Evidence from the Nonlinear Cointegration Methodology," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(1), pages 140-156, December.
    17. Michaela Kreyenfeld & Dirk Konietzka & Philippe Lambert & Vincent Jerald Ramos, 2023. "Second Birth Fertility in Germany: Social Class, Gender, and the Role of Economic Uncertainty," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-27, December.
    18. Jonathan Fox & Mikko Myrskylä, 2015. "Urban fertility responses to local government programs: Evidence from the 1923-1932 U.S," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(16), pages 487-532.
    19. Natalia A. Ekimova, 2025. "Modeling Demographic Growth in Russia: Factors, Mechanisms, Reserves," Journal of Applied Economic Research, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 24(2), pages 386-414.
    20. Oskar Lindström, 2025. "Uncertainty, resilience, and fertility: Perceived capacity to overcome loss of employment and fertility intentions in Sweden, 2021," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 53(31), pages 1003-1044.
    21. Artjoms Ivlevs & Timothy Hinks, 2015. "Erratum to: Global economic crisis and corruption," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 447-449, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:popdev:v:50:y:2024:i:s1:p:395-419. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0098-7921 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.