The influence of women's changing roles and status in Bangladesh's fertility transition: evidence from a study of credit programs and contraceptive use
Schuler, S.R.; Hashemi, S.M.; Riley, A.P.
World Development Oxford 25(4): 563-575
1997
DOI: 10.1016/s0305-750x(96)00119-2Document Number: 313879
Multivariate analyses of data from a recent study in rural Bangladesh suggest that women's access to credit provided by two organizations, Grameen Bank and BRAC, augments use of contraception. This effect increases with the duration of the women's involvement in the credit programmes. Although three of eight measures of women's empowerment have statistically significant effects on contraceptive use (women's economic security and contribution to family support, freedom of mobility, and relative freedom from domination by the family), these variables account for surprisingly little of the effect of credit on contraceptive use. Qualitative data describing how the credit programmes empower women is presented together with speculation about other paths through which participation in them may influence contraceptive use.
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