Unmet Need for Family Planning in Sri Lanka: Low Enough or Still an Issue?

CONTEXT: Family planning efforts achieved considerable success in Sri Lanka during the late 20th century; however, overall levels and trends may mask relatively high levels of unmet need under certain conditions.

METHODS: Data from the 2007 Demographic and Health Survey of Sri Lanka (DHS-SL) were used to estimate unmet need for limiting and spacing births among ever-married women aged 15-49, overall and by key characteristics. Twelve definitions of unmet need of varying stringency were used to assess the sensitivity of results to a variety of measurement issues. Comparable estimates from the 1987 DHS-SL were used to provide context on changes in unmet need over time.

RESULTS: Total unmet need in 2007 ranged from 1.6% under the narrowest definition to 19.3% under the broadest. Levels of unmet need for spacing births in 2007 were lower than 3% for all measures and for most subsamples. In contrast, levels of unmet need for limiting were generally higher and more varied, both in relation to the definition of unmet need used and across subsamples. Unmet need for limiting was particularly high in certain groups if women's use of traditional contraceptive methods and practice of prolonged abstinence were considered not to meet their contraceptive need.

CONCLUSIONS: Continued progress regarding contraceptive prevalence and method mix could contribute to further reducing unmet need for family planning in Sri Lanka and to meeting women's reproductive and health goals. Renewed policy emphasis on the family planning needs and concerns of selected groups would promote such goals.