Contraceptive prevalence and poverty reduction among women in seven West African countries

Onipede Wusu, Covenant University, Nigeria

This study tests the hypothesis that contraceptive prevalence is likely to promote poverty reduction among women in West Africa. The study focuses on women of reproductive age because they are the mostly affected by poverty and the major bearer of reproductive burden. Data analysed were derived from the most recent DHS in the selected countries. OLS regression models were constructed in the analysis. The result reveals that in all the seven countries, ever use of modern contraceptives was positively related to poverty level indicator (β ranges between 0.026 and 0.112) along with education (β ranges between 0.236 and 0.482) and urban residence (β ranges between 0.355 and 0.650)across the countries. This implies poverty level among women in the region is likely to significantly reduce in the nearest future if modern contraceptive prevalence is promoted now among them along with improved schooling and increased urban residence.