Indicator 3.7.1 Proportion of women of reproductive age (aged 15–49 years) who have their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods

Indicator 3.7.1: Proportion of women of reproductive age (aged 15–49 years) who have their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods

Target 3.7: By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes

Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

Definition:

The percentage of women of reproductive age (15-49 years) currently using a modern method of contraception among those who desire either to have no (additional) children or to postpone the next pregnancy. The indicator is also referred to as the demand for family planning satisfied with modern methods.

Concepts:

The percentage of women of reproductive age (15-49 years) who have their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods is also referred to as the proportion of demand satisfied by modern methods. The components of the indicator are contraceptive prevalence (any method and modern methods) and unmet need for family planning.

Contraceptive prevalence is the percentage of women who are currently using, or whose partner is currently using, at least one method of contraception, regardless of the method used.

For analytical purposes, contraceptive methods are often classified as either modern or traditional. Modern methods of contraception include female and male sterilization, the intra-uterine device (IUD), the implant, injectables, oral contraceptive pills, male and female condoms, vaginal barrier methods (including the diaphragm, cervical cap and spermicidal foam, jelly, cream and sponge), lactational amenorrhea method (LAM), emergency contraception and other modern methods not reported separately (e.g., the contraceptive patch or vaginal ring). Traditional methods of contraception include rhythm (e.g., fertility awareness-based methods, periodic abstinence), withdrawal and other traditional methods not reported separately.

Unmet need for family planning is defined as the percentage of women of reproductive age who want to stop or delay childbearing but are not using any method of contraception. The standard definition of unmet need for family planning includes women who are fecund and sexually active in the numerator, and who report not wanting any (more) children, or who report wanting to delay the birth of their next child for at least two years or are undecided about the timing of the next birth, but who are not using any method of contraception. The numerator also includes pregnant women whose pregnancies were unwanted or mistimed at the time of conception; and postpartum amenorrheic women who are not using family planning and whose last birth was unwanted or mistimed. Further information on the operational definition of the unmet need for family planning, as well as survey questions and statistical programs needed to derive the indicator, can be found at the following website of the USAID Demographic and Health Surveys Program: http://measuredhs.com/Topics/Unmet-Need.cfm.

Percent (%)

This indicator is calculated from nationally-representative household survey data. Multi-country survey programmes that include relevant data for this indicator are: Contraceptive Prevalence Surveys (CPS), Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Fertility and Family Surveys (FFS), Reproductive Health Surveys (RHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), Performance Monitoring and Accountability 2020 surveys (PMA), World Fertility Surveys (WFS), other international survey programmes and national surveys.

For information on the source of each estimate, see United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). World Contraceptive Use 2022. (https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/data/world-contraceptive-use)

Survey data are obtained from national household surveys that are internationally coordinated—such as the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), the Reproductive Health Surveys (RHS), and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), Gender and Generation Surveys (GGS)—and other nationally-sponsored surveys.

Differences in the survey design and implementation, as well as differences in the way survey questionnaires are formulated and administered can affect the comparability of the data. The most common differences relate to the range of contraceptive methods included and the characteristics (age, sex, marital or union status) of the persons for whom contraceptive prevalence is estimated (base population). The time frame used to assess contraceptive prevalence can also vary. In most surveys there is no definition of what is meant by “currently using” a method of contraception.

In some surveys, the lack of probing questions, asked to ensure that the respondent understands the meaning of the different contraceptive methods, can result in an underestimation of contraceptive prevalence, in particular for traditional methods. Sampling variability can also be an issue, especially when contraceptive prevalence is measured for a specific subgroup (by age-group, level of educational attainment, place of residence, etc.) or when analysing trends over time.

When data on all women aged 15 to 49 are not available, information for married or in-union women is reported. Examples of other base populations that are sometimes presented when data on all women of reproductive age are not available are: married or in-union women aged 15-44, sexually active women (irrespective of marital status), or ever-married women. Notes in the data set indicate any differences between the data presented and the standard definitions of contraceptive prevalence or unmet need for family planning or where data pertain to populations that are not representative of women of reproductive age.

The numerator is the number of women of reproductive age (15-49 years old) who are currently using, or whose partner is currently using, at least one modern contraceptive method (CP_Mod). The denominator is the total demand for family planning (the sum of the number of women using any contraceptive method (CP_Any) and the number of women with unmet need for family planning (UMN)). The quotient is then multiplied by 100 to arrive at the percentage of women (aged 15 to 49 years) who have their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods (NS_Mod).

${NS}_{Mod}=\frac{{CP}_{Mod}^{}}{UMN{+CP}_{Any}^{}}\times 100$

2024-03-28

Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

This indicator is linked to Target 3.8 (Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all) because the provision of family planning information and methods to all individuals who want to prevent pregnancy is an important component of achieving universal health coverage.

This indicator is also linked to Target 5.6 (Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences) because meeting the demand for family planning is facilitated by increasing access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, and also improves sexual and reproductive health and the ability to exercise reproductive rights.