Son Preferences and Contraceptive Behaviour in Some Selected States of India

Abstract

Use of contraception is an effective way to control unintended pregnancy. It plays an important role in reducing fertility by spacing in the birth interval and also use in limiting the fertility. This study examines which contraceptive method is widely used in different age groups, religions, castes, for 0, 1, 2 and 3 births, as well as for different sex composition of two and three children. Data from 4^th round of National Family Health Survey (2015-16) has been used to analyze the impact of sex composition of children on contraceptive use by couples in major states of India such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. In Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, couples who had two or three children were found to use more female sterilization, whereas in Uttar Pradesh, female sterilization use was lower and the use of condoms was higher than other modern contraceptive methods. Findings revealed that the couple having 2 and 3 female births, the percentage of female sterilization in Maharashtra was 80.0 and 86.2 percent, in Tamil Nadu 96.6 and 98.1 percent, in Uttar Pradesh 10.8 and 26.7 percent, in West Bengal 59.2 and 60.6 percent respectively compared to all other modern contraceptive methods. Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu had nearly the same percentage of female sterilization among all 2 and 3 child sex combinations, whereas West Bengal had a slight difference. In Uttar Pradesh, however, the percentage of female sterilization was vastly different for all 2 and 3 child sex combinations, suggesting that the state has a son preference. Also, the percentage of female sterilization in Uttar Pradesh was different in comparison to the other states considered in the study.