The Impact of Women's Employment and Education on Contraceptive use and Abortion in Kinshasa, Zaire

Abstract

This report examines contraceptive behavior and abortion among women residing in Kinshasa, Zaire's capital city, with particular emphasis on women's employment and education. A data set collected in 1990 covering 2,399 women of reproductive age was used. While the practice of contraception is a common event in Kinshasa, dominated by the rhythm method, the use of modern contraceptives remains limited, but is on the rise. Induced abortion is reported by 15 percent of the ever-pregnant women in the survey. Women's employment and education are strongly linked to contraceptive use and abortion, and differences in the incidence of abortion by schooling and employment status appear to play an important role in contributing to corresponding observed differences in fertility. Modern contraceptives and induced abortion appear to be used as complementary fertility-control strategies in Kinshasa, and analyses of the findings suggest that better-educated women employed in the modern sector are most likely to be in the forefront of the contraceptive revolution.

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