Peer-reviewed article
Reproductive health equity: demystifying unmet need for family planning among young women in Uttar Pradesh.
Mishra P ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This research examines why young women in Uttar Pradesh, India have unmet needs for family planning, particularly in rural areas. Using data from nearly 11,000 adolescent women, the study found that differences between rural and urban areas are driven by wealth, religion, and regional factors within the state. The research identifies unobserved community and district-level factors that also influence whether young women can access contraception. The authors call for culturally appropriate sexual health education and better access to modern contraception to support young women's reproductive choices.
Key points
- Unmet need for contraception among adolescents in Uttar Pradesh is 19%, a significant public health concern
- Multilevel analysis shows statistically significant variations at community and district levels, indicating unobserved factors affecting unmet demand
- Rural-urban disparities in unmet family planning needs are explained by differences in wealth, religion, and intra-state regions
- Study used 11,018 adolescent women from NFHS-5 (2019-21), India's national household survey
- Unmet contraceptive need contributes to unintended pregnancies and abortions among adolescents
Limitations
The study identifies what factors explain rural-urban disparities but does not specify what the unobserved community and district-level factors are, limiting understanding of all drivers of unmet need. The analysis is descriptive and exploratory rather than evaluative of any specific intervention.
Abstract
Background The unmet need for contraception among adolescent women in India is a significant public health concern, contributing to unintended pregnancies and abortions. This paper seeks to examine the regional variations and factors driving rural-urban disparities in unmet family planning needs in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India's most populous state, where the total unmet need among adolescents is as high as 19%. Methods The study is based on 11,018 adolescent women from the recent round of India's DHS, NFHS-5 (2019-21). To fulfil the study's objective, Multilevel logit model and Oaxaca Blinder Decomposition was applied. Results The Multilevel logit model results show statistically significant variations at community and district level, implying a strong presence of unobserved factors affecting the unmet demand. Oaxaca decomposition results show that difference in rural and urban adolescent unmet need is explained by factors like wealth, religion and intra-state regions. Conclusion The results call for the need to implement culturally appropriate reproductive and sexual health literacy programs to increase uniform access to modern contraception and to raise women's autonomy in the state of Uttar Pradesh.