Unmet Need over the Life Course - A Multistate Life Table Analysis

Mohsina Khatun, University of Groningen
Frans Willekens, University of Groningen

In life, a person/couple passes through a series of stages of contraceptive need. Each stage is an outgrowth of the ones before. The objective of this study is to explore the changes in need of contraception to regulate women's reproductive career and to determine unmeet need. Several types of unmet need are distinguished, depending on availability, effectiveness and safety of methods. Multistate contraceptive life tables are constructed to picture the contraceptive use dynamics and to explore transitions into and out of categories of need. Several policy-relevant questions are addressed. What is the prevalence of unmet need by age? What is the lifetime probability of unmet need? What is the expected duration of episodes of unmet need? The contraceptive calendars from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 1993-94 and 1996-97 are used to examine these questions. The results demonstrate the nature and importance of a life course perspective on unmet need.