Women's employment and family planning in rural Uganda

Despite impressive progress in increasing contraceptive use in developing countries during recent decades, the uptake has lagged behind in Africa. One of the most critical factors in raising the use of contraception is women's employment status. This study analyzed the link between women's employment and family planning in rural Uganda and addressed shortcomings in the literature by using nationally representative panel data from the 2010 and 2012 rounds of the Uganda National Panel Survey for 800 women aged 15-49 years, and estimating heterogeneous effects for different types of employment and across socio-economic characteristics. Employment was not associated with greater use of modern contraceptives, but off-farm wage-employed women were more likely to use traditional contraception. The correlation of employment was strongest for women who had reached their desired fertility status, but became insignificant for poorer women who lived in remote areas. However, likely due to the ineffectiveness of traditional methods, off-farm wage employment was not associated with greater spacing between births. Our findings implied that providing rural employment opportunities for women is insufficient to increase the uptake of modern contraceptives. To enhance the effectiveness of family planning programs, health-care officers should target off-farm wage-employed women to address their unmet contraceptive needs.