Worker-client exchanges and contraceptive use in rural Bangladesh.

In this article, longitudinal data from rural Bangladesh are used to assess the impact of household visits from family planning workers on contraceptive use. A panel of women was interviewed in a demographic survey and reinterviewed every 90 days for six successive rounds. Regression methods are used to estimate the effect of these encounters on the odds that a woman will use contraceptives. Statistical controls adjust for the potentially confounding effects of underlying demand for contraception. Findings suggest that both male and female worker-initiated exchanges have an effect, although the impact of outreach is more pronounced if the worker is female. Estimated effects are consistent with the hypothesis that the predominant impact of outreach is to crystallize existing latent demand for contraception. Results also suggest, however, that female worker outreach generates new demand by fostering ideational change.