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When there is a perceived disagreement between spouses, it is more common for the wife to
report that her husband disapproves of family planning and she approves (13 percent) than that the
husband approves and she disapproves (1 percent).
Urban women are more likely to approve of family planning than their rural counterparts. There
is also a discernible variation in attitude between regions. Widespread disapproval of use of family
planning was observed among women living in the Somali and Affar regions. On the other hand,
approval of family planning was higher among women living in Addis Ababa and the Tigray Region,
where more than eight out of ten women approve of the use of family planning.
Women’s education varies positively with their attitude toward family planning. Women with
no formal education were the least likely to approve of family planning. In addition, the higher the
wife’s level of education, the more likely that she and her husband both approve of family planning.
The fact that both men and women in the same household were interviewed provided an
opportunity to link responses obtained from currently married women with those obtained from their
husband. A total of 1,355 couples were linked in this way. Table 5.23 shows the percent distribution
of these couples by attitude toward family planning, according to age and educational differences
between spouses.
Table 5.23 Couple’s approval of family planning
Percent distribution of couples by approval of family planning, according to age difference between spouses and level of
education, Ethiopia 2000
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Approval of family planning
__________________________________________________
Wife Husband
approves, approves, Percent of
Differential Both Both dis- husband wife dis- couples in
characteristic approve approve disapproves approves Missing Total agreement Number
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Age
Husband younger
Husband 0-4 years older
Husband 5-9 years older
Husband 10-14 years older
Husband 15 years + older
(44.2) (22.3) (8.0) (20.9) (4.7) 100.0 (66.5) 26
52.8 12.6 8.7 14.0 11.9 100.0 65.4 297
49.8 11.0 12.8 12.0 14.4 100.0 60.8 579
47.6 10.8 10.8 15.8 15.0 100.0 58.4 297
39.0 18.1 10.2 12.0 20.7 100.0 57.2 154
Education
Husband and wife
no education
Wife educated, husband not
Husband educated, wife not
Husband and wife educated
39.5 16.0 11.7 13.2 19.6 100.0 55.5 768
(55.5) (6.8) (3.4) (17.1) (17.2) 100.0 (62.3) 40
50.9 10.6 13.3 16.2 8.9 100.0 61.6 336
77.0 2.8 6.7 9.3 4.2 100.0 79.7 212
Total
48.6 12.4 11.1 13.4 14.5 100.0 61.0 1,355
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Note: Figures in parentheses are based on 25-49 unweighted cases.
Fertility Regulation* 71