Abstract
Background
In China, contraception is the most commonly used practice adopted by couples seeking
to limit their number of children and to determine the time interval between births.
Since 1980, the implementation of mandatory contraceptive strategy has reduced the
fertility rate. Using large-scale data from national statistics and nationally representative
sample surveys, the current study aims to assess Chinese trends in contraceptive use
and determinants of choice from 1980 to 2010 among married women and men aged 20���49
years.
Study Design
Since 1980, national data on contraceptive methods utilization have been gathered
by the National Population and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic
of China (NPFPC). Additionally, data from three roughly representative decennial samples
(1988, 1997, 2006) of Chinese women of aged 20 to 57 years have been gathered by the
NPFPC through the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Surveys in China.
Results
A relatively stable Chinese mode of contraception has been established and maintained
since the 1980s. This is characterized by long-term contraceptive use which is still
dominant in current China. In addition, China's total contraceptive prevalence rates
remain at the highest level across the globe from 1980 to 2010. However, the overall
method composition of contraceptive use within China has changed since the mid-1990s.
Over the study period, the prevalence rate of sterilization increased from 30.21%
in 1980 to 46.47% of married women of reproductive age (20���49 years) in 1994 and
then declined to 31.7% in 2010. At the same time, intrauterine device usage increased
(39.83% in 1980 to 48.15% in 2010), as did oral contraception (0.3% in 1980 to 0.98%
in 2010) and condom usage (2.35% in 1980 to 9.32% in 2010). The results from the multinomial
logit model show that an individual's contraceptive choice depends not only on individual
characteristics, including ethnicity, age, education level, household registration,
region, number of living children and sex of the last living child, but also on the
strength of family planning policies. A positive coefficient indicates that the looser
the strength of family planning policies is, the more likely the individual is to
choose condoms or another short-term contraceptive method.
Conclusions
Long-term contraceptive use is still dominant in China. In fact, over the 30-year
period (1980���2010) and in comparative world perspective, China continues to have
the highest total contraceptive prevalence rate. Additionally, an individual's contraceptive
choice is jointly influenced by the strength of family planning policies and individual
characteristics.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 16, 2011
Accepted:
October 22,
2011
Received in revised form:
October 20,
2011
Received:
November 22,
2010
Footnotes
���Funding: 211 Program (3rd) of the Central University of Finance and Economic & the Projects of the National Social Science Foundation of China(10CRK012).
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
