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In a panel study of fertility behaviour conducted between 1997 and 2004 in rural Punjab and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan, data collected from 12 communities showed a modest increase in contraceptive use over a six-year period. A majority of women had expressed a desire to limit family size in both years but, despite that, two thirds had a birth over the six years between the two surveys. This suggests a disassociation between stated fertility preferences and fertility behaviour and a persistent unmet need for contraception. The modest rise in contraceptive use occurred at the same time as village-based family planning services became more widely available. Although there was a weak correlation between the occurrence of births from 1997 to 2004 and contraceptive use in 2004, as some changes in the family planning service environment had occurred, there were comparatively stronger correlations of these two variables with women's schooling, changes in access to schooling, and an indicator of community level development.

In terms of policy, the findings therefore indicate that investment in human development in rural communities is just as important as family planning programmes for facilitating a reduction in fertility.

Asia-Pacific Population Journal Volume 25 was released in 2010.

  • Volume 25 No. 1
    • Is fertility behavior changing in Pakistan? Evidence from rural Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, 1997 and 2004. By Sharon Ghuman, Zeba A. Sathar and Cynthia B. Lloyd
    • Internal migration in India: are the underprivileged migration more? By R.B. Bhagat
    • Economic independence, family support and perceived health status of the elderly: recent from India. By Saswata Ghosh and Zakir Husain
    • District-level variations in the quality of mortality data in Thailand. By Patarapan Odton, Kanitta Bundhamcharoen and Attachai Ueranantasun
       
  • Volume 25 No. 2
    • Addressing unmet need: potential for increasing contraceptive prevalence in the Philippines. By Paulyn Jean B. Acacio-Claro and Maridel P. Borja
    • Below to above replacement: dramatic increase in fertility and its determinants in Sri Lanka. By W. Indralal De Silva, B. Nishanthi Perera and K. Chamara Anuranga
    • The effect of remittances on return migration and its relation to household wealth: the case of rural Thailand. By Yuying Tong and Martin piotrowski
    • Determinants of living arrangements of elderly in Orissa, India: An analysis. By A.K. Panigrahi
       
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