Internal Migration and Unmet Need for Family Planning in 31 Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Jinseo Kim , Interdisciplinary Program in Precision Public Health, Department of Public Health Sciences, Graduate School, Korea University
Rockli Kim, Division of Health Policy and Management, College of Health Sciences, Korea University

Background: Internal migration and urbanisation are pervasive demographic and socioeconomic phenomena that shape everyday life in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In particular, women migrants are a vulnerable group for access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. However, how these processes affect women's family planning remains underexplored. We systematically assessed the association between the internal migration of women and the unmet need for family planning (FP) in LMICs. Methods: Data on 523,833 women aged 15 to 49 were extracted from the latest demographic and health surveys (2010-2023) in 31 LMICs. We distinguished different types of migrants (rural-to-urban, urban-to-rural) and restricted migrant status to those who moved within the last five years. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the association between internal migration and unmet needs for FP. Results: In our pooled sample, 36,536 (7.0%) women were internal migrants, and 74,577 (14.2%) reported unmet needs for FP. Rural-to-urban migrant (OR: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.85, 0.97) and urban non-migrant (OR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.93, 0.98) women had significantly lower odds of unmet needs for FP compared with rural non-migrant women. Overall, rural-to-urban migrants had decreased risks of facing unmet FP needs. In contrast, urban-to-rural migrants at younger ages (aged 15-24) predominantly had escalated risks of unmet needs for FP. Conclusion: Urbanisation in LMICs positively impacts FP by enhancing SRH service access. Investing in rural health facilities is crucial to ensure access to FP services. Lastly, educational programs targeting younger migrants can alleviate unmet needs for FP.

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 Presented in Session 77. Reproductive Health and Family Planning