State of World Population 2012 - UNFPA Haiti

CHAPTERFOURThe social and economicimpact of family planningBeing able to exercise the right to family planning—and more broadly theright to sexual and reproductive health—is instrumental for the realization ofother rights and also yields many economic benefits to individuals, households,communities and whole countries. Better reproductive health, including familyplanning, affects the economy—and therefore sustainable development—innumerous ways. Women who have fewer risky births, healthier pregnancies andtEduardo MondlaneUniversity.Geography class.©UNFPA/Pedro Sá daBandeirasafer deliveries face lower risks of mortalityand improved overall health.Their babies areborn healthier and their children’s health isbetter early in life. These improvements inhealth produce an array of economic benefits:greater investments in schooling, greater productivity,greater labour force participationand eventually increased income, savings,investment and asset accumulation. Thereis little evidence, however, about the impacton the lives of men.Researchers attempting to document themagnitude of these relationships face severalhurdles, partly because the use of family planningdepends on a variety of other variables,including income, education (particularlyfemale education), opportunities for femaleemployment, the pace of industrialization andurbanization, cultural and social norms andthe cost of raising children. These variables aredifficult to measure and have strong effects oneach other.Family planning and the well-beingof womenHealth impactThe economic impact of improved reproductivehealth on women’s lives begins with improvementsin their own health, in which accessto family planning plays a key role. Access tofamily planning reduces overall fertility, thenumbers of unintended pregnancies as well asthe number of risky pregnancies, which thenreduces the risks of maternal mortality andlong-term morbidity (Maine et al., 1996).Access to family planning can also lead to moreoptimal birth spacing, which in turn improvesoverall maternal health by lowering maternaldepletion syndrome and the risks of prematuredelivery and complications (Conde-Agudelo,Rosas-Bermudez and Kafury-Goeta, 2007).In Sri Lanka for example, the sharpestdeclines in maternal mortality occurred duringits period of fertility decline. Today, Sri Lankahas one of the highest contraceptive prevalenceTHE STATE OF WORLD POPULATION 201271