Contraceptive Prevalence in Lesotho: Does the Sex of the Household Head Matter?

It is often assumed that women in female-headed households are less sexually active and, therefore, are expected to make less use of modern methods of contraception than their counterparts in male-headed households. The data from a demographic and health survey carried out in 1991 was used to examine the effects of type of households in which women live on their contraceptive behaviour. The sex of the household head was found to make a difference on the level of contraceptive use in Lesotho. However, the effect is dependent on the marital status of the woman and whether the method in use is modern or traditional. The results show that women in male-headed households reported higher rates of modern contraceptive prevalence than those in female-headed households. There is no support for the hypothesis that women in female-headed households use modern contraceptives more than women in male-headed households except for never married women