Bridewealth and women’s contraceptive use in Sub-Saharan Africa:does completeness of payment matter?

The relationship between bridewealth payment and women’s reproductive autonomy has been the subject of investigation for many years in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). But few studies have examined whether the level of completeness of bridewealth payment is associated with women’s use of contraceptives. Efforts to assess this relationship has been hampered by lack of survey data. We address this knowledge gap using recently collected survey data in four SSA countries. We analysed data from a sample of 5,322 women in union who had a desire to postpone or stop childbearing. We found that women in marriages where bridewealth was partially paid or yet to be paid were significantly more likely to use modern contraceptives relative to those in marriages where bridewealth was fully paid. This suggests that complete bridewealth payment limit women’s use of modern contraceptives. Therefore, efforts to increase modern contraceptive uptake need to address the curtailing effect of bridewealth