Capturing Family Planning Data through Population-Based Household Surveys: A Systematic Review of World Fertility Survey, Contraceptive Prevalence Survey, Reproductive Health Survey, Demographic and Health Survey, PMA2020 Survey Questionnaires

Madeleine Short Fabic, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
Yoonjoung Choi, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

World Fertility Surveys, Contraceptive Prevalence Surveys, Reproductive Health Surveys, Demographic and Health Surveys, PMA2020 Surveys—for more than 40 years, the international family planning (FP) community has invested in and consumed data collected through population-based household surveys. These data have provided a wealth of key information, including contraceptive prevalence, unmet need, demand satisfied, and more. Family planning is once again gaining prominence—through the auspices of FP2020, the Ouagadougou Partnership, and the Sustainable Development Goals—and the time is ripe for taking stock of FP information needs and data sources. As a starting point for this endeavor, we examine the history of FP measurement via household surveys, focusing on understanding the universe of FP data captured, the rationale for modifications to the survey instruments, and what we have lost and gained over the years as a result of such changes.