The proportion of the demand for family planning satisfied with modern methods is useful for evaluating the coverage levels of family planning programs and services. Access to and use of effective methods to prevent pregnancy help women and their partners exercise their right to freely and responsibly decide the number and spacing of their children, and to have access to the necessary information, education, and means to do so. Satisfying the demand for family planning with modern methods also contributes to maternal and child health by preventing unwanted pregnancies and pregnancies with short intervals, which carry a higher risk of adverse obstetric outcomes. This has been recognized in various international conferences, in the Regional Agenda, and in the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development. Satisfied family planning demand measures the total proportion of women who wish to delay or avoid motherhood and who are currently using modern contraceptive methods, thus emphasizing the exercise of their autonomy. This measurement is a key indicator for tracking target 3.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which aims to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services by 2030.
Definition
This indicator corresponds to the proportion of sexually active women of reproductive age (15 to 49 years) who want to either not have (additional) children or postpone the next child and are currently using a modern contraceptive method. The denominator is the total demand for family planning (the sum of contraceptive prevalence (any method) and the unmet need for family planning), and the result is expressed as a percentage. The source of information is the UN SDG database, and depending on the country, data is available from 2000 to the most recent year.
