Unmet Need for Contraception in Developing Countries: Examining Women’s Reasons for Not Using a Method

time of the survey (note: some of these women Of the 52 countries included in this report, 32 are in might have had abortions, so the indicator could Africa, 13 are in Asia and seven are in Latin America and overstate infecundity); the Caribbean,* following the regional classifications • s he has not had a period for at least six months and of the United Nations Population Division. [...] Regional averages are shown where the combined populations of women The pool of women defined to have unmet need and aged 15–49 in the surveyed countries accounts for 50% or those who are asked reasons for not using contraception more of the region’s population of women that age. [...] the other end of the spectrum, the five countries with the To set the stage for exploring the reasons underlying lowest levels of unmet need—Colombia, Peru, Honduras, unmet need, this section and Tables 1–5 present levels Dominican Republic and Indonesia—have the highest lev- of contraceptive use and unmet need in the 52 countries els of contraceptive use. [...] For example, if the majority of women who need contraceptives would Sexual Activity and Contraceptive Use Among like to have a child in the future, then programs focusing Never-Married Women mainly on sterilization would not be appropriate, and some A total of 31 countries—23 in Sub-Saharan Africa, seven in women might be reluctant to use IUDs and implants in Latin America and the Caribbean, and o. [...] women (29% compared with 25%, respectively— Some of the difference in unmet need between Table 15, page 61), most likely reflecting the fact that younger and older women is due to the fact that sexu- some of the young women with unmet need are ally active never-married women fall predominantly in unmarried and have more sporadic sexual relationships the younger group, and they have much higher unm.