Rural-Urban Differences in Unintended Pregnancies, Contraceptive Nonuse, and Terminated Pregnancies in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

Based on Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data for Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and Peru (1986–2017), I analyzed rural-urban disparities in unintended pregnancies, contraceptive nonuse, and terminated pregnancies. Through descriptive, relative risk, and multilevel analyses, my results suggest significant rural-urban differences in Latin America and the Caribbean. Surprisingly, rural women have lower odds of experiencing an unintended pregnancy and a pregnancy termination than urban women. As the population of urban areas continues to grow, policy efforts should account for rural-urban differences, as well as geographic, socioeconomic, individual, and reproductive factors, to fund programs that support the urban poor.

Keywords:

• Unintended pregnancies
• contraceptive nonuse
• terminated pregnancies
• urban-rural differences
• Latin America and the Caribbean

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Dr. Ka-Yuet Liu, Dr. Patrick Heuveline, Dr. Jennie Brand, and Dr. Anne Pebley (University of California, Los Angeles) for their valuable comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The author has no conflicts to declare.

Notes

1 ICF International, Inc. is a Fairfax, Virginia (USA) based global advisory and digital services provider, which provides a range of services for governments and businesses, including strategic planning, management, marketing, and analytics. Although it was founded in 1969 as Inner City Fund, it was renamed ICF International Incorporated in 1972. Since 1984, ICF International, Inc. has worked with USAID to implement the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program across the world.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.