A comparison of census and family planning program data on contraceptive prevalence, Indonesia

Indonesian family planning (FP) service statistics indicate that three out of five couples of childbearing age nationwide are now using modern contraception provided by the FP program. The 1980 Indonesian Census provided a unique opportunity to cross-check the FP program's contraceptive prevalence figures for every province. The results of that comparison indicate considerable variation, particularly in Java, between the FP program estimates of numbers of current users and the census estimates. Possible explanations for these differences are sought in the FP program approach to estimation of prevalence levels from acceptor data, and by examining the possibility of census underestimation of prevalence levels.