Table 1 Descriptive statistics of sample

Current contraceptive use

 Currently not using

68.25

--

--

 Currently using

31.75

--

--

Spousal age difference (years)

8.34

9.11

6.70

Person who usually decides on respondent’s health care

 Respondent alone

18.16

15.41

24.05

 Respondent and husband/someone else

34.31

30.13

43.25

 Husband alone

46.01

52.61

31.91

 Someone else/other

1.51

1.85

0.79

Year of marriage

 1975—1979

3.05

3.54

2.00

 1980—1984

5.99

6.67

4.52

 1985—1989

9.12

9.57

8.15

 1990—1994

13.05

13.12

12.89

 1995—1999

17.29

16.94

18.03

 2000—2004

18.88

18.58

19.53

 2005—2009

15.85

15.45

16.70

 2010—2014

10.75

10.37

11.58

 2014—2019

5.10

4.97

5.37

 2020—2022

0.93

0.80

1.23

Education

 No education

43.93

54.87

20.41

 Primary education

31.56

27.07

41.22

 Secondary education

20.16

15.13

30.97

 Tertiary education

4.36

2.94

7.41

Work status

 Not working

29.35

30.95

25.90

 Works for family member

11.19

12.36

8.69

 Works for someone else

8.02

5.38

13.71

 Self-employed

51.44

51.31

51.71

Age

 15–19

6.90

8.47

3.50

 20–24

17.23

17.74

16.11

 25–29

21.32

20.63

22.79

 30–34

18.23

16.88

21.13

 35–39

15.86

14.89

17.95

 40–44

11.77

11.55

12.23

 45–49

8.70

9.83

6.29

Religion

 Christian

51.97

42.83

71.62

 Moslem

36.92

44.91

19.75

 Traditional

4.22

5.54

1.37

 Other/ No religion

3.13

3.37

2.60

 Religion not available

3.76

3.35

4.66

Fertility preferences

 Both partners want no more

14.04

9.89

22.97

 Only wife wants no more

8.04

7.64

8.89

 Both want more

43.64

45.24

40.20

 Husband desires unknown

23.75

27.70

15.28

 Other

10.52

9.53

12.66

Number of children alive

3.36

3.33

3.41

Births in the past year

 No births in the past year

72.23

68.18

80.95

 At least one birth in the past year

27.77

31.82

19.05

Sex composition of children alive

 No child

6.41

8.76

1.35

 Girls only

15.54

15.30

16.04

 Boys only

16.40

16.05

17.13

 Both boys and girls

61.66

59.89

65.48

Heard about family planning recently

 Did not hear about family planning in the media (radio/TV/newspaper)

54.86

59.89

44.06

 Heard about family planning in the media (radio/TV/newspaper)

45.14

40.11

55.94

 Did not hear about family planning from health worker

73.08

77.77

63.01

 Heard about family planning from health worker

26.92

22.23

36.99

Polygamy

 Only wife

73.65

70.04

81.40

 First wife

11.13

13.32

6.42

 Second wife

9.19

11.42

4.40

 Third or higher wife/does not know rank/rank not available

6.03

5.22

7.79

Co-residence with husband

 Does not reside with husband

14.86

15.78

12.88

 Resides with husband

85.14

84.22

87.12

Husband’s education

 No education

37.27

46.85

16.66

 Primary education

28.77

25.19

36.49

 Secondary education

24.04

19.68

33.41

 Tertiary education

7.76

5.89

11.79

 Does not know husband’s education

2.16

2.39

1.65

Year of survey

 Type of place of residence

  Rural

31.12

27.62

38.63

  Urban

68.88

72.38

61.37

 Country

  Benin

5.13

6.14

2.95

  Burkina Faso

5.32

6.44

2.93

  Burundi

1.87

1.90

1.82

  Cameroon

2.80

3.13

2.10

  Chad

2.39

3.20

0.63

  Cote d’Ivoire

1.45

1.69

0.95

  Democratic Republic of the Congo

2.12

2.36

1.61

  Ethiopia

2.80

2.56

3.31

  Gabon

0.55

0.58

0.48

  Gambia

2.22

2.71

1.15

  Ghana

2.27

2.23

2.36

  Guinea

3.08

4.08

0.93

  Kenya

5.73

3.18

11.21

  Lesotho

2.08

1.45

3.45

  Liberia

1.02

1.22

0.60

  Madagascar

3.63

2.59

5.88

  Malawi

6.37

4.21

10.99

  Mali

5.93

7.62

2.31

  Mozambique

1.66

1.94

1.04

  Namibia

0.85

0.51

1.56

  Niger

2.46

3.02

1.25

  Nigeria

12.79

15.21

7.58

  Rwanda

3.45

2.36

5.77

  Senegal

5.55

6.30

3.92

  Sierra Leone

3.50

4.16

2.09

  Tanzania

3.73

3.22

4.82

  Uganda

2.36

2.14

2.84

  Zambia

3.84

2.53

6.65

  Zimbabwe

3.08

1.34

6.82

Sample size

478,193

331,418

146,775