Determinants of contraceptive use in Meru District

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to analyze the major demographic, socio-economic and socio-cultural factors that determine contraceptive use in Meru district. The objective is based on the fact that Kenya launched its Family Planning Programme two decades ago, but still contraceptive use is very low. In an effort to determine the factors responsible for this situation this study selected Meru District since its contraceptive prevalence has been slightly higher than most of the other districts in Kenya, so as to attempt and find out the factors that are responsible for this situation. ...., "' The study has therefore looked at the relationship between contraceptive use and ". . SOClo-economlC, socio-cultural and demographic factors. The study has further used the cross-tabulation method which is best for its comparative purposes and came up with percentage distribution and histogram distribution of various variables. The study also found out that education, place of residence, age of mother, marital status, number of children living and religion are the major indicators of contraceptive use.