THE USE OF CONTRACEPTIVES IN BRAZIL - AN ANALYSIS OF THE PREVALENCE OF FEMALE STERILIZATION

Female sterilization is Brazil's most common method of birth-control. This paper examines the main social and demographic traits of the ster ilized female population, comparing these with the characteristics of the institutions and agents that provide birth-control methods. When d emographic variables are controlled through use of a multivariate mode l, it can be shown that most of those choosing sterilization as a birt h-control method are of higher social status. At the same time, increa sed use of sterilization has accompanied growth of the social security health-care and hospital network, which appears to have extended the method to ever greater numbers of Brazil's relatively needier classes. It is concluded that sterilization has thus spread from more affluent to poorer classes, much as detected in the dissemination and usage of birth-control methods in other societies.