Socio-economic and Demographic Differentials of Contraceptive Usage in Indian States: A Study Based on NFHS Data

This study aims to investigate the differentials of contraceptive use in two regions of the Indian subcontinent, namely, Empowered Actions Group (EAG) 1 states and South Indian states by some socio-economic and demographic variables among the currently married women aged 20-49. To find out the differentials of contraceptive use between the two regions, Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA) was applied to National Family Health Survey (NFHS 3) data using some socio-economic and demographic variables. Of the socio-economic and demographic factors, wealth status of household, number of living children, exposure to media, female autonomy and ethnicity were found to be more important in determining the usage of contraception of the women. Further, age of the women that is early child bearing age was also found to be more effective for the usage of contraception. Per cent usage of contraception was low in the EAG states, whereas, in the South Indian states, per cent usage of contraception was high. The study shows that prevalence of modern contraception was high in South Indian states, on the other hand, prevalence of traditional contraception was high in the EAG states.