Contraceptive choices among indian women: is the role of women's education overemphasized?

Education is considered an important tool in the relationship between fertility and contraception use. It is believed that with higher education the use of modern contraceptives among women increases, as they are better informed and make responsible choices in fertility. This paper examines the contraceptive use and knowledge in over 6 lakh Indian women, thorough DLHS-3 (2007-08) data. We find that with increasing education, use of contraceptives is positively related. Not only modern, but also traditional methods are practiced more frequently. Her husband’s education also is a strong parameter in contraceptive decision making. This paper also finds that more education provides a women with greater autonomy to make decisions to use and also bring about differences in the facility where women obtain contraception. The decision to not use contraception is also affected by the education level of the spouse’s education, but not in a significant way. In the Regression analysis, we find that socio-economic variable significantly impact the use of contraception is we control for the education level of the woman.