One Step Ahead of Unplanned Pregancies: A Deep Look into Reasons for Non-Contraception Use among Young Filipina University Students

Lara Patrício Tavares , Professor
Vikas Kalyankar, Universidade de Lisboa

In this paper we analyse the results of a questionnaire developed to go beyond looking at the use of modern contraceptives at the time of the survey, to explore the reason for non-contraception use, something often missing in studies on women empowerment and family planning in developing countries (Prata et al. 2017). The university dropout rate in the Phillipines is very high, namely among women (Harum and Ibrahim 2022; EDCOM II). By focusing on university students, we seek to explore the barriers they face in pursuing their individual autonomy. The Philippines - where Catholicism is so strong than divorce is outlawed - has some of the most strict laws in Southeast Asia on abortions, and the access and use of reproductive health care is severely conditioned by religious and social norms (Radics 2024). At the same time, the Phillipines is also a country showing a high percentage of teenage and single mothers. We aim at disentangling external barriers to the use of contraception, such as access to health care services, from (eventual) internal barriers – while delving on the origins of the latter.

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 Presented in Session P2. Families, Fertility, and the Life Course 2