WORKER-CLIENT EXCHANGES AND CONTRACEPTIVE USE IN RURAL BANGLADESH

In this article, longitudinal data from rural Bangladesh are used to a ssess the impact of household visits from family planning workers on c ontraceptive use. A panel of women was interviewed in a demographic su rvey and reinterviewed every 90 days for six successive rounds. Regres sion methods are used to estimate the effect of these encounters on th e odds that a woman will use contraceptives. Statistical controls adju st for the potentially confounding effects of underlying demand for co ntraception. Findings suggest that both male and female worker-initiat ed exchanges have an effect, although the impact of outreach is more p ronounced if the worker is female. Estimated effects are consistent wi th the hypothesis that the predominant impact of outreach is to crysta llize existing latent demand for contraception. Results also suggest, however, that female worker outreach generates new demand by fostering ideational change.