Abstract
The main objective of this study is to measure the effect of some proxy measures of women empowerment; female headed household, contributing family workers and percentage of female labor force participation on use of contraceptives. After compilation of data on above stated variables for seven South Asian countries, different panel econometrics techniques have been applied for empirical investigation of study objectives. Results suggested that percentage of female’s headed household is significantly associated with the use of contraceptives. Plausible explanation of this association is that if women are household head, then naturally they would also be decision makers regarding major issues confronting the household and that may affect family planning approach and the use of contraceptives. Similarly, another proxy measure taken is women’s labor force participation. The results of our study show that with increase in percentage of women in labor force, the use of contraceptives also get increased concomitantly. Along with proxy measures of women’s empowerment, variable public health expenditure has been taken to see its effects on use of contraceptives. The results show that public health expenditures are insignificantly influencing use of contraceptives. Overall analysis shows that two proxy measures of women empowerment female headed household and female labor force participation are significant variables that can influence use of contraceptives in South Asian region.