Cycle 9 (2020 Deadline)
Young wives: an exploratory study of married women below twenty and the socio-cultural determinants of their contraceptive behavior in low resource settings in India
PI: Sudipta Mondal (smondal@pciglobal.in), Project Concern International, India
U.S. Partner: Cristine Legare, The University of Texas at Austin
Project Dates: March 2022 - April 2024
Project Overview:
 | | Group photograph with Prof. Legare and the team. |  | | Interviewer explains the study to a household in Dharmoshala (Dhubri) |  | | Woman busy with daily chores in a Muslim household in Dighi (Godda) |  | | Village of Baghmara (Godda) |
Family planning (FP) is a public health priority in India, with a target fertility rate of 2.1% by 2025. However, FP in India has focused more on female sterilization than delaying births, despite the fact that delaying births is more relevant for young women who are in the process of building a family [Muttreja & Singh, 2018]. This is especially true for states that lag behind in demographic transitioning and other development indices. This project will focus on two such states, namely Jharkhand and Assam, known for higher proportions of underage marriage and tribal populations. More than 30% of women aged 20-24 in Assam and 37% in Jharkhand got married before the age of 18. Moreover, 33% of young married women (15-19) in Assam and 27% in Jharkhand became pregnant within a year of marriage (Indian National Family Health Survey 4). While interventions and policies are in place, it is important to focus simultaneously on understanding and addressing the socio-cultural norms and gender roles at work in order to effectively delay the first pregnancies of young already married women.
The project team will focus on women aged 15-19 years who have been married for at least a year and separate them into two groups: (1) those who have delayed the first pregnancy a year or more after marriage using modern methods (adopters); and (2) those who conceived prior to a year of marriage, or conceived later but did not use any modern method (non-adopters). The intent is to identify the extent to which the FP beliefs and behaviors of these two groups vary, despite navigating similar complex and diverse socio-cultural environments. The main project objective is to identify predictors of FP adoption by studying the complex cultural ecologies of health, particularly fertility-related beliefs and gender norms, and how they interact with the FP decisions of young couples. This study will draw complementary insights from both qualitative and quantitative methods to address data gaps, since these constructs often elude large-scale surveys. The merit of the study lies in its ability to generate context-specific evidence crucial for designing better interventions which will enable young couples to successfully navigate complex socio-cultural norms and make good FP decisions that protect their well-being. The research team will proceed on the basis of their central hypothesis that without an attention to the prevailing socio-cultural values and norms, and without viewing the issue from a family systems perspective, conventional approaches to FP programming will continue to falter.
Despite the fact that the general determinants of family planning behaviors of Indian couples are broadly known, this is not adequate for governments to plan effective interventions. Most national surveys do not provide a thorough understanding of the complex social norms and gender roles concerning fertility that people navigate and that ultimately lead to higher incidences of early marriage and conception. More than 30 million women in India who want to avoid pregnancy are not using modern FP methods. The proposed research will generate knowledge required for designing interventions to achieve this desired behavior.
July-September 2023 activities' updates
Ujjain Survey Conclusion: The quantitative survey in Ujjain concluded in July, including a supervisory visit by Prof. SK Singh from IIPS.
Post-Fieldwork Activities: Collaborative efforts between the Young Wives team's Research Officer and PCI's MLE Manager resulted in the generation of datasets for Godda and Ujjain. Initial data analyses are ongoing to create a descriptive report.
Collaborations & Meetings: Monthly discussions among partners from UT, IIPS, and PCI transitioned to weekly meetings in October, fostering ongoing collaboration. Meetings identified research topics and engaged with partners in Austin, Texas, leading to the identification of potential research paper titles.
International Engagements: Noteworthy interactions occurred with Dr. Lundgren during Dr. Mondal's U.S. exchange visit, focusing on shared interests in social norm impact and project introductions. At the conclusion of the discussions, nine prospective colaborative paper titles were finalized and work was initiated to develop the content.
Global Participation: Participation in the FP2030 PME Working Group meeting in Nairobi enabled the introduction of the Young Wives project objectives and initial insights to a global audience.
Upcoming Focus (October - December 2023):
- Preparation and dissemination of blogs and social media posts based on research findings
- Conducting the scheduled workshops (national and state-level) for dissemination of findings
- Production of the training curriculum for young researchers will be taken up during the last quarter of 2023.
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