The results of a 1992 survey of 2285 female recipients of collateral-free loans from rural development agencies in Bangladesh and 1168 nonbeneficiary controls provide evidence that participation in income-generating projects leads to increased contraceptive use on the part of poor rural women and a decreased level of desire for additional children. In addition to income-generating activities such as paddy husking, poultry raising, weaving, and petty trading, the programs emphasized family planning promotion through loan group meetings. Current contraceptive use rates were 60.3%, 58.2%, and 68.1% among beneficiaries of the Grameen Bank (GB), an independent poverty-focused bank the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), a nongovernmental organization, and the Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB), a public sector program, respectively, compared to 38.4% among nonbeneficiary controls and 40% in Bangladesh as a whole. Similarly, the percentages of women desiring no more children were 83.3%, 78.3%, and 84.4% among GB, BRAC, and BRDB beneficiaries, respectively, but only 63.2% among controls. Even when loan beneficiaries did not participate in population education activities, contraceptive use was higher than expected (53.8%, 59.5%, and 59.1% for GB, BRAC, and BRDB beneficiaries, respectively), suggesting that the income-generating schemes had an independent effect on the demand for fertility control. Multivariate analysis indicated that the positive effect of contraceptive use among beneficiaries increased with duration of membership in the loan organization and with the number of loans received. It is hypothesized that the staffs of the projects became viewed as more credible motivators of family planning than staff of the national program due to their responsiveness to the economic survival needs of poor women and that this process was facilitated by a powerful solidarity that emerged among women in the loan groups. Overall, the Bangladesh experience points to the need for an integrated income generation, social development, and fertility control approach that links isolated rural women to peer group support. (POPLINE abstract)
