Television and women’s reproductive behavior: evidence from Uganda

ABSTRACT This paper examines the relationship between television exposure and women’s reproductive behavior in Uganda. There is very little research that has explored the impact of television on the current adoption of modern contraceptives and to our knowledge, no studies have looked at the relationship between family planning programs on TV and the use of modern birth control in Uganda. We find that watching television and specifically watching family planning programs on television is positively associated with the current use of modern contraceptives. Increased frequency of watching TV is also associated with greater use of modern contraceptives. We further find that women exposed to television also changed other aspects of reproductive behavior – preference for a certain number of children and the decision to use any birth control to avoid pregnancy. Our results indicate that continued access to television and family planning programs on television has the potential to alter reproductive behavior and provide women with information and choice to adopt modern methods of birth control.