Contraceptive Use Dynamics: A Life Course Approach and an Application to Bangladesh

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

Contraceptive use varies with age and the stage of the reproductive life. To grasp this variability we have used the life course approach, adopting multistate life table (MSLT) methodology. The MSLT constitutes the dominant methodology to keep tracks of transitions into (increments) and out of (decrements) different states say, from traditional method to short-term method or vice-versa. We use calendar data from the 1993-94 and 1996-97 Bangladesh Demographic Health Surveys and construct a six-state multistate life table. The states are non-use, short-term method, long-term reversible method, traditional method, permanent method and pregnancy. The measures directly available from the MSLT are age-specific state occupancies, transition probabilities, and expected duration of method use. Questions addressed include: What is the prevalence of switching short-term method to traditional method among the teenagers? What is the life time probability of switching to permanent method? What is the expected duration of the episodes of non-use?