Family planning promotion, contraceptive use and fertility decline in Ghana

The rapid decline in fertility since 1988 in Ghana has coincided with a marked increase in exposure to family planning messages via radio, television and print sources, as well as a considerable increase in the levels of education of women of reproductive age, a marked reduction in infant and child mortality, and an increase in the degree of urbanisation of the population. Using data from the 1998 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, this study investigates the effects at the individual level of exposure to family planning messages via radio, television and printed sources on contraceptive use and fertility. Multilevel logistic regression analyses show that exposure to family planning messages raises contraceptive use, but that, after controlling for covariates, these effects do not translate into substantial effects on fertility. A woman's education, reproductive history and urban residence are shown to be important determinants of both her contraceptive use and her fertility.