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Future husbands: predictors of young males’ exposure to family planning messages in Ghana
Authors: Eugene K.M. Darteh, and Joshua Amo-Adjei
Source: African Population Studies, 26(1): 75-86; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11564/26-1-220
Topic(s): Contraception
Family planning
Youth
Country: Africa
  Ghana
Published: APR 2012
Abstract: Abstract A number of studies have concluded that weak involvement of men in family planning decision-making accounts for the low adoption in countries undergoing fertility transition. Programmes to incorporate men in family planning decision-making have largely focused on married men. However, given the pronatalist nature of such societies, family planning within marriage tends to be low. An alternative is to consider the involvement of unmarried young people. This paper assesses the exposure of young males’ to specific contraceptive messages and their predictors rather than channels. The study uses data from the 2003 round of Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, a nationally representative survey of people in their reproductive ages. Logistic regression was used to examine predictors of exposure to family planning messages. Generally, levels of exposure to messages on contraceptives were high. Messages which positioned family planning messages as beneficial to the individual had high levels of exposure. However, there were marked disparities in exposure to messages based on age, region and rural–urban residence, level of formal education, especially beyond the secondary level. The effect of education beyond the secondary level on exposure appeared more robust than any other socioeconomic variable. Given the multivariate nature of predictors of exposure, appealing and culturally acceptable messages through reliable mediums are likely to increase exposure and attract the attention of young men towards family planning messages.
Web: http://aps.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/220/209