Trends and determinants of unmet need for family planning services in the Philippines: A re-analysis of the 1993 NDS and 1998 NDHS

• Main Author: Pamaran, Nomi Tirol
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2000
• Subjects: Family planning—Philippines; Family, Life Course, and Society; Medicine and Health
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/6959
• Institution: De La Salle University

This research is a secondary analysis of the 1993 National Demographic Survey (NDS) and 1998 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) of the Philippines. It compares the 1993 and 1998 survey results to show trends of unmet need for family planning, the percentage of currently married women who expressed desire to either space or limit childbearing but are not using contraceptive methods. Furthermore, this study identifies and explains determinants of unmet need for spacing, unmet need for limiting and total unmet need. Findings revealed that unmet need for family planning services declined over the past five years. In comparing the unmet need between young adult women and adult women, results showed that unmet need is higher among younger women, who have less number of children but desire a large family size. On the other hand, unmet need for limiting is higher among adult women who have many children but who desire small family size. Other than these differences, unmet need for spacing and unmet need for limiting followed the same pattern. Both unmet needs were higher among women who are cohabiting, Muslim, less educated, unemployed and residing in rural areas. In addition, both were prevalent in Mindanao and Visayas. They were low, however, among women who are knowledgeable of ovulatory cycle and family planning methods and those who experienced using contraceptives in the past. Age, household wealth index, parity, ideal family size, and ever use of family planning method were found to be determinants of unmet need for spacing, unmet need for limiting and total unmet need. Other factors that significantly influenced unmet need for spacing and total unmet need were employment, religion, visits to family planning facility and discussion of family planning with partner. Moreover, marital status and education were found to have significant impact on total unmet need while regional variation influenced unmet need for limiting alone.