Abstract

This study was conducted at the Mirab Abaya District of Southern Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to identify factors that determine the decision to utilize family planning methods among rural women. The sample size for this study was 115 (53 family planning user and 62 non-user respondents). The quantitative data were analyzed through frequency, percentage and binary logistic regression. The binary logistic regression result shows that contact with health extension agents had significant positive effect on the decision to use family planning methods at 1% significance level, while the education level of the women and annual gross income had a significantly positive effect, and house type had significant negative effect on the decision to use family planning methods at 5% significance level. However, attitudes on family planning methods and access to Non-Governmental Organizations’ support had significant positive effect on the decision to use family planning methods at 10% significance level. Therefore, policy makers and family planning service providers should give attention to determinants that significantly influence the utilization decision of family planning methods through emphasizing women’s education, income improvement activities and provision of incentives to motivate them. 

Key words:  Family planning, utilization, descriptive statistics, frequency, binary logit.