Contraceptive use in South Africa under apartheid

In this paper, patterns of contraceptive use among black South African wome n in the late 1980s are examined. Multilevel legit models are used to evalu ate the extent to which segregation of the African population into homeland s gave rise to uneven patterns of contraceptive use; how this pattern was s haped by variations in family-planning acceptability; and the way in which the system of male labor migration and social and economic inequities acros s communities affected women's use of contraceptives. Results show that var iation in contraceptive use across homeland areas diminished with the addit ion of community controls for development and migration. Controlling for un observed heterogeneity indicated that localized conditions could offset the advantages or disadvantages of living in a former homeland.