My Decision, Your Decision or Our Decision? Wives' and Husband's Values and Attitudes and Their Influence in Couple's Actual Use of Contraception

Irene Casique, Universidad Nacional Autonoma De Mexico

Today's contraceptive use in Mexico appears as a quite extended practice, with about 70% of women ever using contraception. But, what are men's and women's values and attitudes regarding family size, family purpose, family planning, individual goals and gender roles within the family that are behind this behavior? Additionally, in what extent does this apparently consensual practice results from unequal effects of his or her ideas and decisions? Using data from the Mexican Survey of Communication in Family Planning 1996 regarding 1,021 couples surveyed, this work compares the information provided for each member of the couple in terms of values and attitudes regarding family planning, ideal family size, knowledge on contraception, communication and family decision-making process. Using logistic regression we estimate the effect of each couple's member characteristics on couple's current use of contraception. Preliminary findings show a disproportionate significance of husband's values and attitudes influencing the use of contraception.