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Adolescent contraceptive use and its effects on fertility

Author

Listed:
  • David A. Sánchez-Páez

    (Universidad de Valladolid)

  • José Antonio Ortega

    (Universidad de Salamanca)

Abstract

Background: Adolescent reproductive health is part of internationally agreed development goals. Unmarried adolescents are not commonly included in global monitoring of contraceptive use despite the more severe consequences of unintended childbearing for them. Objective: We document levels and trends of contraceptive prevalence and demand for married and sexually active unmarried adolescent women aged 15–19 in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. We estimate the effect of adolescent contraceptive use and marital status on fertility and the impact of meeting current demand. Methods: We propose a fertility model informed by the proximate determinants framework separating adolescents by marital status. Linear Mixed Model estimates are based on aggregate data from 120 DHS surveys for 34 developing countries. Results: Increasing contraceptive prevalence has already reduced adolescent fertility by 6.8% in Latin America and 4.1% in sub-Saharan Africa. Meeting the total demand for contraceptives of unmarried adolescents would lead to an additional decrease in fertility of 8.9% and 17.4% respectively. Conclusions: Contraceptive demand and prevalence are generally higher for sexually active unmarried adolescent women than for those married. Increasing prevalence has already had an impact in declining fertility, but there is a potentially larger effect if high levels of unmet need are eliminated, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Such reduction would have a significant impact on adolescent health. Contribution: We provide evidence of the importance of contraceptive use of unmarried sexually active adolescent women in explaining trends in adolescent fertility. We estimate the potential effect of meeting the contraceptive needs of married and unmarried adolescents on unintended childbearing.

Suggested Citation

  • David A. Sánchez-Páez & José Antonio Ortega, 2018. "Adolescent contraceptive use and its effects on fertility," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(45), pages 1359-1388.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:38:y:2018:i:45
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2018.38.45
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Bright Opoku Ahinkorah & John Elvis Hagan Jr. & Abdul-Aziz Seidu & Francis Sambah & Faustina Adoboi & Thomas Schack & Eugene Budu, 2020. "Female adolescents’ reproductive health decision-making capacity and contraceptive use in sub-Saharan Africa: What does the future hold?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, July.
    2. Nina Deliu, 2024. "Reinforcement learning for sequential decision making in population research," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(6), pages 5057-5080, December.
    3. Mwale, Martin Limbikani, 2022. "Unintended consequences of farm input subsidies: women’s contraceptive usage and knock-on effects on children," MPRA Paper 112689, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Martin Limbikani Mwale & Tony Mwenda Kamninga, 2024. "Unintended consequences of farm input subsidies: women’s contraceptive usage and knock-on effects on children," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 1-28, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    contraceptive use; early marriage; adolescent fertility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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