Exploring relationships between gender attitudes, couple concordance and family planning in Tanzania

Geeta Nanda, FHI 360
Sidney Ruth Schuler, FHI 360
Rachel Lenzi, FHI 360

There is a complex relationship between family planning (FP), couple communication and gender attitudes. This paper presents findings from a household survey with 200 couples from two regions in Tanzania. Logistic regression analyses suggest that couples in which both spouses hold gender-equitable attitudes are more likely to use contraception than couples in which one or both spouses have less equitable attitudes. When both spouses perceive that the other approves of FP, the couple is more likely to use contraception. And couples in which both spouses report that they discussed FP more than once in the last three months are more likely to use contraception than other couples. We conclude that interventions promoting gender equity and FP should target both members of the couple, which is often not the case.