Determinants of Unmet Needs of Contraception among Married Women Aged 15-24 in India: Evidence from NFHS-5

Abstract Keeping in view the substantial risk of obstetric complications due to a high prevalence of pregnancies among adolescent and young adult women across the globe, this study aims to ascertain an association between independent risk factors and unmet needs of contraception among currently married women, aged 15–24 years, living in India. The present study utilized the recently published data from National Family Health Survey (NFHS, Wave-5, 2019-20). The sample size of this study was 72, 714. Univariate and bivariate analysis was used to understand the prevalence and preliminary association of covariates and the dependent variable. Over 18% of women in the selected sample had total unmet needs for contraception which were divided into 14% for spacing and 4% for limiting. Binary logistic regression and multinomial regression were used to determine the independent effect of covariates on total unmet needs, unmet needs for spacing, and unmet needs for limiting while controlling the selected background characteristics. The likelihood of total unmet needs was lesser among women of relatively higher age, higher educational attainment, better wealth status, urban areas, and those hailing from households with males as the head and those with the same desire for children as their husbands. The multinomial analysis found higher education, urban settlement, male head of household and equal desire of couples for children to be associated with lower unmet needs for both spacing and limiting. Additionally, unmet need for spacing was less likely in higher ages, among Hindu women and those belonging to the ‘none’ category of caste. The likelihood of unmet need for limiting was higher among women aged 21–24 and lower among scheduled tribes. To improve the scenario and bring down the prevalence of unmet needs in India, it is important to have targeted interventions among women of various age groups and different socio-demographic sects.