Does family planning use empower women? A systematic review of the evidence

Overall, this systematic review suggests that family planning access has a positive impact on a variety of empowerment measures across different domains of empowerment. However, the quality ratings indicate that while our synthesis suggests potential benefits of family planning for women's empowerment, the current evidence base provides limited confidence for definitive conclusions. One of the main challenges in understanding the impact of family planning on empowerment is the diversity of conceptualizations and measures of empowerment used. In addition, the geographic coverage of studies was limited to few countries, with only one study from Latin America. Further research using a process-oriented measure of empowerment comparable across contexts could add to our understanding. In addition to being a fundamental human right, investing in family planning likely contributes to women's empowerment in multiple domains.