Contraceptive use in Cambodia: does household decision-making power matter?

Abstract

In Cambodia, the growth of family planning services and socio-economic development have resulted in a spectacular rise in contraceptive prevalence rate and an equally remarkable reduction in contraceptive use differentials. With rising educational levels and increased participation in the modern labour market, Cambodian women are playing an increasingly pivotal role in household decision-making. This study used data from three rounds of Cambodia Demographic and Health Surveys to elucidate trends and patterns of contraceptive use. It then examined the determinants of contraceptive use through the use of logistic regression. The central hypothesis to be tested was whether or not women’s involvement in household decision-making affected contraceptive use. Multivariate analysis showed that apart from the number of living children, women’s work status and education of both men and women had a more significant impact on contraceptive use, as compared to women’s power in household decision-making. More effort is needed to empower women in all aspects in order to reduce the socio-economic differentials in contraceptive use and improve their reproductive health, in line with the goal of the global agenda of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) to leave no one behind.

Keywords:

• Contraceptive use
• Cambodia
• household decision-making power
• women’s education and work
• empowerment

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank DHS for permitting to use of relevant data.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 http://who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/family_planning/contraceptive_prevalence/en/

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University Malaya Faculty Research Grant under Grant GPF004P-2018; and Population Studies Unit (PSU), Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya under Grant IF002-2014.