Women Status Contraceptive Use and Fertility in Kenya
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Date
1996Author
Okoth, Ruth Lilian
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The objective of this study was to analyse the status of women, current contraceptive use and
relate all these to their fertility. The data used was from the Kenya Demographic and Health
Survey, 1993.
Two statistical methods of data analysis were used i.e. cross tabulation and correlation analysis.
Chi-square statistic was used to determine the significance of the association between selected
demographic, socio-economic and cultural variables and current contraceptive use. Correlation
analysis was used to determine the strength of the relation between current contraceptive use and
fertility. Fertility was measured by children ever born.
The use of chi-square has shown that level of education, age and marital status have a significant
relationship with current contraceptive use for both women in the rural and urban areas.
However, the relation between religious affiliation and current contraceptive use is only
significant for women living in the urban areas. Type of marriage has no significant relationship
with current contraceptive use. The study also found that young women living in the rural areas
tend to use natural methods of family planning (abstinence and withdrawal) while the relatively
young women living in the urban areas tend to use pills and other modern contraceptive
methods. A significant proportion (about one fifth) of women who are Catholics use natural
method of contraception both in the urban and rural areas.
The study recommends that family planning campaigns should be enhanced in the rural areas and
young women and husbands should also be targeted. Further, the education of girls should be
enhanced for the status of women to be improved.
Publisher
University of Nairobi