Worldwide, women in the poorest wealth quintile have about twice as many children as those in the wealthiest quintile. For poor families, having many children can mean fewer resources (money, time, and attention) invested in each child, leading to poor nutrition, ill health, and limited educational opportunities. One reason that women who are poor have more children than affluent women is that they are less likely to use modern contraceptive methods. Paradoxically, women in the poorest wealth quintile are more likely than those in the wealthiest quintile to report that they are not using contraception even though they want to limit or space future births. The poor have a key role as expert advisers, reviewers, advocates, educators, community mobilizers, critics, and watchdogs. Concrete examples of country activities that have involved the poor in policy initiatives illustrate their valuable contributions.
Policies and programs that combine poverty-reduction and family planning (FP), as well as engage the poor, can increase the effects of both poverty-reduction and FP efforts. This report is designed to provide information to national and local leaders and policy champions on the potential contribution of family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) programs to poverty reduction programs and to suggest ways that national and local officials, development leaders, and FP/RH champions can engage the poor in the policy process to foster open dialogue on how family planning can benefit the poor.

The guidelines in this report were tested in Kenya during meetings with community members and leaders. They are designed to be adapted to diverse groups, including the poor and other disadvantaged and marginalized groups.