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New Delhi, The use of family planning methods among currently married women aged 15-49 declined in Delhi between 2019-21 and 2023-24, while the unmet need for family planning increased, according to data from the latest National Family Health Survey.
According to the NFHS-6, 67.4 per cent of currently married women aged 15-49 years were using ‘any family’ planning method both modern and traditional methods in 2023-24, down from 76.4 per cent in 2019-21.
The use of any modern method declined to 51.2 per cent from 57.7 per cent, while traditional ones fell to 16.2 per cent from 18.7 per cent.
The survey said “any modern method” includes modern family planning methods, including those not shown separately in the fact sheet.
Among specific methods, in Delhi, female sterilisation declined to 14.7 per cent from 18 per cent, while male sterilisation increased marginally to 0.4 per cent from 0.2 per cent.
The survey also recorded an increase in the unmet need for family planning. The total unmet need for family planning increased to 7.3 per cent in 2023-24 from 6.1 per cent in 2019-21.
According to the survey, unmet need for family planning refers to fecund women the biological and physiological capacity to produce offspring who are not using contraception but wish to postpone their next birth, referred to as spacing, or stop childbearing altogether, referred to as limiting.
The survey said women are considered to have an unmet need for spacing if they are at risk of becoming pregnant, not using contraception, and either do not want to get pregnant within the next two years or are unsure if or when they want to become pregnant.
It also includes women who are pregnant with a mistimed pregnancy.
The survey further includes women who are postpartum amenorrhoeic for up to two years following a mistimed birth and are not using contraception.
Unmet need for spacing increased to 2.7 per cent from 2.0 per cent.
According to the survey, women are considered to have an unmet need for limiting if they are at risk of becoming pregnant, are not using contraception and do not want any more children.
It also includes women who are pregnant with an unwanted pregnancy.
The survey further includes women who are postpartum amenorrhoeic for up to two years following an unwanted birth and are not using contraception.
Unmet need for limiting increased to 4.6 per cent from 4.1 per cent.
The data also showed that the proportion of women aged 20-24 who were married before the age of 18 increased to 11.4 per cent from 9.9 per cent.
Among men aged 25-29, the proportion married before the age of 21 declined to 8.1 per cent from 12 per cent.
Delhi’s total fertility rate remained unchanged at 1.6 children per woman in both survey rounds.
The proportion of women aged 15-19 years who were already mothers or pregnant at the time of the survey declined to 2.4 per cent from 3.3 per cent.
The survey also recorded improvements in education indicators.
The proportion of women with 10 or more years of schooling increased to 64 per cent from 59.7 per cent, while the proportion of men with 10 or more years of schooling rose to 67.6 per cent from 60.9 per cent.
Internet use also increased. The proportion of women who had ever used the internet rose to 82 per cent from 63.8 per cent, while the corresponding figure for men increased to 93.2 per cent from 85.2 per cent.
The findings are part of the NFHS-6 fact sheet for the National Capital Territory of Delhi based on data collected in 2023-24.
The NFHS-6 was conducted during 2023-24 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with the International Institute for Population Sciences , Mumbai, serving as the nodal agency.
Covering nearly 6.79 lakh households across 715 districts, the survey provides data on population, health, nutrition and family welfare indicators and supports planning and programme implementation up to the district level.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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