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Couples’ Reproductive Decisions: An Inter-Spousal Communication Amongst Young Couples of Bihar |
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| Paper Id :
18528 Submission Date :
2024-02-02 Acceptance Date :
2024-02-18 Publication Date :
2024-02-23
This is an open-access research paper/article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.10821754 For verification of this paper, please visit on
http://www.socialresearchfoundation.com/remarking.php#8
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| Abstract |
The
crucial reproductive decisions being taken by a couple are such a complex
phenomena that it becomes really difficult to capture the decision making
process and to determine whether one spouse is dominating over others or the
decision is jointly taken after proper communication and negotiation. There are
multiple factors such as educational background, socio-economic condition,
female literacy, female occupation, type of families etc. contributes and
affects in reproductive decisions like contraceptive uses, delaying first child
and spacing between first and second child. The prime respondents for this
study were newly married couple / married couple with 0 child and married
couple with one child . Among married women with 0 child 83.5 % respondents
said that they take FP/RH related decisions jointly with their husbands. Only
11.5 % respondents said that such decisions are taken by their spouse. When the
same question was asked from married men with 0 child only 39 % respondents
said that they jointly take decisions with their wife on the issue of FP /RH.
This percentage was nearly half of the responses given by their wives. Almost 42.5 male
respondents (married men with 0 child) said that they alone take decisions on
the matter of RH/FP. There was a certain
gap observed between husbands and wives of 0 child while communicating and
taking crucial RH/FP decision. Among married women with 1 child 57 % respondents
said that they jointly take FP/RH related decisions but at the same time 31 %
respondents said that such decisions were taken by their husbands. Among
married men with 1 child 49 % respondents said that they jointly take crucial
RH/FDP decision with their wife but 39. 5 % respondents said that they alone
take RH/FP related decisions. This study concluded that men role was extremely
significant while taking crucial/ most
influential RH/FP related decisions. Most of the RH/FP related decisions are
taken either by the husband or jointly with wives. Another finding of the study
was that the couple were hardly have any impact of influencers'/family members
on RH/FP related matters. |
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| Keywords | Reproductive Health (RH), Couple, Decisions, Influencers, Family Planning (FP). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduction | An Inter-spousal communication is a complex
dimension between husband and wife while taking up crucial family planning and
reproductive decisions. In India, population and development programmes,
and medical institutions often neglect the male’s influence on decisions
related to reproductive health (RH) issues, as well as male behaviour and
sexual health needs. Today, policy makers are trying to get more and more men
involved in RH programs. There are certain barriers, however, such as social
and cultural obstacles, weak commitment by policy makers or inadequate policy,
insufficient and inappropriate information. Interventions to involve males in
RH programs are intended, for instance, to ensure more responsible sexual
behaviour, to increase contraceptive methods used, and to strengthen
information sharing between husbands and wives. Communication between husband and wife enabled them
to know each other’s attitudes toward family planning and use of
contraceptives. It allows them to voice their concerns about reproductive
health issues, such as worries about unwanted pregnancies or sexually
transmitted diseases (STDs). Couple communication also encourages shared
decision-making and an equal role for both sexes. Research over more than 40
years consistently demonstrated that men and women who discuss family planning
are more likely to use contraceptives, to use them more effectively and to have
fewer children. In contrast, when men and women did not know their partners’
fertility desires and attitudes toward family planning or contraceptive
preferences, there could be unintended pregnancies, leading perhaps to unsafe
abortions, and a risk of transmission of STDs. In societies where the male is
the decision-maker in the family, he makes important decisions such as those
relating to having or not having a child, using or not using contraceptives. Purpose Of The Study Despite rapid economic and social development in
recent decades, India retained the large populations of extreme
poverty and virtual isolation from national progress. The state of Bihar is
arguably one of the least developed and most populous of India’s 28 states,
with 84 percent of the population living in rural areas (much of which is
flooded for several months a year). Eighty percent of the population belongs to
the lower castes, which helps to hold the poorest citizens in poverty. Women
and girls face extreme economic and social inequality and are usually married
young and pressed by parents, in-laws and the wider community to prove their
fertility by having a child immediately . Girls are brought up to be obedient
to parents, husbands and mothers-in-law, and only 46.3 percent of women
interviewed usually participated in household decisions. Government of India family planning programs had
historically focused on women who already had two or three children, persuading
them to adopt permanent or long-term methods. Little attention was paid to
educating adolescents and young married couples on “planning” the timing and
spacing of children according to their economic and health needs. Traditional
reproductive health programs had not targeted youth, given barriers posed by
cultural norms favouring early marriage and proof of fertility.
The prime purpose of the study is to see the role
and influence of husbands and wives in taking crucial reproductive decisions
such as contraceptive use and how thee couple arrive at the decision. Whether
the decisions are taken independently by the respondents or influenced by the
spouse or jointly taken by the couple. The specialty of the study is to compare
the crucial reproductive decisions in the context of husband and wife and understanding
the dynamics of spousal communication. |
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| Objective of study | The prime objectives of the study are as follows; 1. To find out the inter-spousal communication between the husband and the wife for Reproductive / Family Planning decisions. 2. To explore the impact of background variables in taking crucial reproductive decisions. |
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| Review of Literature | Except for a few studies, the literature on Indian researches
pertaining to husband-wife communication and family planning is scanty.
Nevertheless, two important studies are noteworthy. The study of Rama kumar and
Gopal revealed that along the socioeconomic scale, couples in a higher position
communicated more with each other than others. They concluded with the hope
that it should be possible to demonstrate that communication between husband and
wife on matters relating to family planning was a factor that influenced
fertility. Later, in 1975, Mukherjee brought out the importance of husband-wife
communication on family planning matters and suggested certain policy
modifications to the family planning programme and mass media coverage in order
to improve family planning acceptance. In a recent study conducted by
Pradhan,M.R. & Mondal,S. in 2023 concluded that living arrangement of a
women had a significant association with contraceptive use in South Asia.
Modern limiting methods were significantly higher among women living with MIL
in India. The study reflected that MIL also plays important role while it comes
to RH/FP related decisions taken by the couple. |
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| Methodology | The primary and secondary methods were used for the data collection.
Under the primary method, a face to face interview was conducted separately for
husband and wife. A semi-structured interview-schedule was developed to conduct
interviews.
The secondary sources such as published reports, studies etc. were used
to substantiate the findings of the study. |
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| Sampling |
This research study covered 200 couples of the age-group of
15-24 years and having no child/0 child and 200 couples of the age-group 15-24
having one living child. The interview was conducted during June - September , 2010
separately for the husbands and for the wives so that nobody can influence each
other while expressing their feelings or views during interview. The
multi-stage random sampling method was used to select the samples where couple
was considered as sampling unit. For selecting the couples the following mechanism was adopted – Bihar was divided among 9 Divisions. Firstly, Out of 9 divisions two divisions were randomly selected. These
selected divisions are Patna and Magadh. Secondly, Out of the selected divisions, two districts were randomly
selected. These districts were Nalanda (Patna Division) and Gaya (Magadh
Division). Thirdly, Out of the selected two districts, two blocks were randomly
selected. These blocks were Islampur (Nalanda) and Giriak (Gaya). Fourthly, Out of each selected block 100 couples of the age-group 15-24
having no child and 100 couples of the age-group 15-24 having one
child were randomly selected for the
interview.
Therefore, 100 sample respondents having no child & 100 sample respondents
having one child were interviewed from each division. The total number of 400
couples sample respondents were interviewed for this study. So, individually
800 sample respondents were interviewed for this study. |
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| Analysis | The collected data was entered in MS Excel sheet and analyzed by using
Statistical Packages in Social Sciences (SPSS). The bi-variate analysis was
done for elaborate understanding of the subjects of the study. |
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| Findings |
A. Background of the Respondents Before analyzing the data and concluding the findings, it was very
important to know about the basic characteristics of the respondents. Here
basic characteristics means all the independent variables selected for
analyzing the data and for measuring the findings keeping independent variables
as base. The prime independent variables selected in this study were;
Education, Caste, etc. Some of the independent variables were excluded from the
further analysis of data as there were not sufficient numbers of responses
obtained. The background features of respondents provided complete background
related information of the respondents. This would help in understanding the
profile of the respondents and interpretation of data. The background related
information is presented from Table 1. Table-1: Name of District & Respondent Type
Source : Primary data (Ph.D. Thesis) In this research study total 400 couples were interviewed. 200 couples
were interviewed from Nalanda district and remaining 200 couples were
interviewed from Gaya district. Out of 200 couples 100 couples were interviewed
form those who were not having any living child at the time of interview and
100 couples were having one living child with them. The purpose of taking two
types of couples for interview was to understand the dynamics of reproductive
decisions at different stages. Initially, it was tried to conduct interview
jointly (husband & wife together) but it was difficult as the husband was
dominating over their wife during the interview. Therefore, husband and wife
was interviewed separately to minimize the influence and to ensure the
objectivity of the research. In a nutshell, total 800 interviews were conducted in which 400
interviews were held for husbands & 400 interviews held for wives. An
attempt was to ask similar questions from the husbands & the wives to find
the similarities and differences of opinion among the husbands & wives. It
was really difficult to compare the responses of each husband and wife, therefore
collective comparison was done to conclude the decision making aspects in this
study. Significant Findings The key findings of the study revealed the details of inter-spousal
communication and how they do generally arrived the various reproductive /
family planning decisions. Table 2 tried to explain and
understand the most influential person while taking the crucial FP /
Reproductive health related decisions. This answers the query of the most
important persons who not only participated while taking crucial reproductive
decisions but also helped in understanding the most influencing person. The
response categories were respondents, spouse, jointly with spouse, Mother in
law, Father in law etc. The purpose of keeping these options were to make sure the most
important players in taking reproductive decisions. We all know that these were
crucial persons who influence the couples while taking reproductive decisions.
The data were analyzed and presented in Table 2. Table 2: Respondent Type & Most Influential in Taking FP Decision
Source : Primary data (Ph.D. Thesis) Among married women with 0 child 83.5 % respondents said that they take
FP/RH related decisions jointly with their husbands. Only 11.5 % respondents
said that such decisions were taken by their spouse. When the same question was
asked from married men with 0 child only 39 % respondents said that they
jointly with their wife take decisions on the issue of FP /RH. This percentage
was nearly half of the responses given by their wives. Almost 42.5 male
respondents (married men with 0 child) said that they alone take decisions on
the matter of RH/FP. So, there was a certain gap observed between
husbands and wives of 0 child while taking crucial RH/FP decision. Among married women with 1 child 57 % respondents said that they jointly
take FP/RH related decisions with their husbands but at the same time 31 %
respondents said that such decisions were taken by their husbands. Among
married men with 1 child 49 % respondents said that they jointly with wife take
crucial RH/FP decision but 39.5 respondents said that they alone take RH/FP
related decisions. Again, the differences between husbands and wives were
observed amongst the couple having 1 child. Out of total responses of 800 respondents, 57 % said that they jointly
take decisions on RH/FP related issues with their spouse. Almost 21 %
respondents said that they alone take RH/FP related decisions in the family and
almost all the respondents who had given such response are male. To conclude , it can be said that men play crucial role while taking
crucial/ most influential RH/FP related decisions. Most of the RH/FP related
decisions were taken either by husbands or jointly with wives. The interference
or influencers by other family members on RH/FP related matters were found to
be negligible. It was tried to find out whether the caste play any role in taking
crucial family planning decision. The analysed data presented in Table
- 3 . Among married women with 0 child, 72.0 % SC women said that
they take crucial reproductive decision jointly with their husband whereas 87.0
% said that they take crucial reproductive health decision jointly with their
husband and 100.0 % General women said the same response. Based on the data, it
can be interpreted that Caste also played an important role in discussing
family planning issues and taking crucial family planning decision. Such
inter-spousal communication was found highest amongst general caste couple (100
%), amongst OBC Couples (87 %) and amongst SC couples (72 %).
Among married men with 0 child the same question was asked from the
respondents of each category and the response was surprising. Only 39.0 %
respondents of all categories said that they take crucial family planning
related decision jointly with their wives. The responses given by SC male and
OBC male respondents followed the similar pattern and not much differences were
observed between their responses. As there was only one respondent
from General category, his opinion could not be taken into consideration for
analysis and comparison purpose. Among married women with 1 child, almost 57.0 % respondents of all
categories said that they jointly with their husband take crucial family
planning decision. Therefore, caste does not influence in taking crucial family
planning decision. The similar responses were observed with the respondents of
married men with 1 child. Almost 49.0 % respondents of SC & OBC category
said that they jointly with their wife take crucial family planning
decision. So, in a nutshell, it can be concluded that caste did not have much
influence among the respondents of each category while taking crucial family
planning decision. But, the data clearly exhibits that there was a huge
difference in the responses of male & female categories when it comes to
take crucial family planning decisions. And the male responses indicated that
still man dominate over his wife in taking crucial family planning
decision. The next Table -4 tried to find out whether education
played any role in taking crucial family planning decisions on men & women
respondents or not.  Among married women with 0 child, almost 80.4% educated respondents and
86.4 % uneducated respondent said that they jointly with their husbands take
crucial family planning decision. It means even the educated women takes
consent of their husband while taking family planning decision. Among married men with 0 child, only 39.0% educated respondents and 38.1
% uneducated respondents said that they take crucial family planning decision
jointly with their wives. Therefore, the education did not have much influences
on the educated and uneducated male when it comes to take crucial family
planning decision. Only 39.0 % men respondents said that they discussed with
their wives before taking family planning decisions and rests of the
respondents said that they alone take crucial family planning decision. Among married women with 1 child, almost 53.4 % educated women
respondents & 59.8 % uneducated respondents said that they take crucial
family planning decision jointly with their husbands. And 36.4 % educated
respondents and 26.8 % uneducated respondents said that the crucial family
planning decision had been taken by their husbands. It means the current
education system did not provide sufficient empowerment to the women so that
they could discuss crucial family planning issues with their husbands.
Almost 49.0 % educated & uneducated married men with 1
child respondents said that they generally take crucial family planning
decision jointly with their wives. But again almost 50.0 % educated &
uneducated respondents said that they alone take family planning decision. So,
the education did not have significant impact on the men respondents to
sensitize them to at least discuss with their counterparts before taking any
family planning decision. |
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| Conclusion |
In this research study , the parents contribution in influencing the
couples while taking FP decision was found to be very less. It means couples
taking crucial reproductive decisions in their life. They were not much
influenced by their parents / guardians. Among married women with 0 child 83.5 % respondents said that they take
FP/RH related decisions jointly with their husbands. Only 11.5 % respondents
said that such decisions were taken by their spouse. When the same question was
asked from married men with 0 child only 39 % respondents said that they
jointly with their wife take decisions on the issue of FP /RH. This percentage
is nearly half of the responses given by their wives. Almost 42.5 male
respondents (married men with 0 child) said that they alone take decisions on
the matter of RH/FP. So, the study revealed the evident
inter-spousal communication gaps between husbands and wives of couples
having 0 child especially on taking crucial RH/FP decision. Among married women with 1 child 57 % respondents said that they jointly
take FP/RH related decisions but at the same time 31 % respondents said that
such decisions are taken by their husbands. Among married men with 1 child 49 %
respondents said that they jointly with wife take crucial RH/FDP decision but
39. 5 % respondents said that they alone take RH/FP related decisions. The
study revealed that since the duration of togetherness increases, the
inter-spousal communication smoothen on RH/FP issues with respect to the
couples with 0 child and it was evident from the responses given by male
respondents with 0 and 1 child. Therefore, it can be concluded that men play crucial role while taking crucial/ most influential RH/FP related decisions. Most of the RH/FP related decisions were taken either by husbands or jointly with wives. The interference or influence by the other family members on RH/FP related matters are negligible. Among married men with 0 child, only 39.0% educated respondents and 38.1 % uneducated respondents said that they take crucial family planning decision jointly with their wives. Therefore, the education did not have much influence on the educated and uneducated male when it comes to take crucial family planning decision. Similarly, caste / category did not have much influences over taking RH/FP decisions amongst couple with 0 and 1child. |
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