Measures of family planning acceptance in West Java and Central Java: preliminary results of the Indonesian value of children survey.

M. Singarimbun*, Terence H. Hull, Paul A. Meyer

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A sample reflecting a crosssection of socioeconomic statuses was selected in 4 urban areas and their rural hinterlands in West Java and Central Java. In the course of the interviewing 1032 women in Central Java and 1002 in West Java under age 40, currently married and living with their husbands, answered open-ended questions about use of contraception. Marginally larger proportions of women claimed to be currently pregnant in West Java than in Central Java, and the proportion was greater in rural than urban areas. At least 95% of women surveyed in both areas had heard of birth control. Half the women in both areas had at some time used contraception. Between 1/3 and 2/5 were currently doing something to prevent conception. The high rate compared to the 11.5% and 13.5% found in another study of the same areas in July 1975 is explained by the fact that the other survey ignored nonclinic methods of contraception; possibly understated distribution of clinic methods through private channels; may not have overrepresented wives of high socioeconomic status to the extent that the present survey does; and included separated women and slightly older wives. In all areas about 3/4 of those who have used contraception first used a clinic method. The decline in the proportion using nonclinic methods, in contrast to the relative stability of proportions still using clinic methods, occurs because nonclinic methods are used primarily for spacing births whereas clinic methods are more appropriate for terminating childbearing. Difficulties of translation may have been involved also as respondents may have thought that "preventing pregnancy" did not include "spacing," and future research should be more sensitive to this possibility. If the data are reliable they represent some of the highest levels of current use of birth control ever recorded in a large heterogeneous sample in Java.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)93-101
Number of pages9
JournalMajalah Demografi Indonesia
Volume5
Issue number9
Publication statusPublished - Jun 1978

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Measures of family planning acceptance in West Java and Central Java: preliminary results of the Indonesian value of children survey.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this