The effect of married women's working status on gender perceptions and family planning

This study was conducted to examine married women's use of family planning methods according to their working status and the effect of gender perception on family planning method use. In the study, a face-to-face survey was applied to a total of 376 married women, 188 working and 188 non-working, residing in the Şarkikaraağaç district of Isparta province. The survey form used in data collection consists of three parts; sociodemographic variables, questions to measure family planning attitudes and behaviors, and gender scale questions. Quantitative research methods were used in the research and it is a cross-sectional type research. Findings showed that nearly half of women do not use any family planning method. It was found that the use of family planning methods was related to age, duration of marriage and number of children, but it was not related to other demographic variables and did not differ according to the woman's employment status. It has been determined that the family planning methods most frequently used by women are withdrawal, condom, intrauterin device, pill and tubing, respectively, and there is no significant difference between working women and non-working women in this regard. The primary reasons for abandoning family planning methods used in the past are; It has been found that it is unreliable, difficult to take, causes bleeding, is difficult to use, and has side effects. It has been determined that there is generally no difficulty in accessing tools related to family planning methods and access to tools is mostly paid. It was determined that slightly less than half of the women had knowledge about emergency contraceptive method and that these were working women. It was found that women's gender attitude levels were high and women's gender approaches were positive. It was found that women's gender perceptions did not differ according to their family planning use status. On the other hand, the gender perceptions of working women differ from those who do not work, those who have higher education levels and the education level of their spouses differ from those who have lower education levels, white-collar workers differ from farmers and housewives, those who live in the district differ from those who live in towns and villages, and those who have a nuclear family differ from those who live in towns and villages. It was revealed that those who have a family have higher gender perceptions. It was concluded that the number of children affects gender perception negatively, while the level of education affects it positively. Key Words: Family Planning, Gender, Working Women, Pregnancy, Protection.