Contraceptive prevalence: the influence of organized family planning programs

Estimates of contraceptive prevalence for the period 1977-1983 are presented for 73 less developed countries. Socioeconomic conditions are associated with much of the variance in prevalence, but organized family planning programs strengthened this association significantly. The average percent of couples in the reproductive ages practicing fertility regulation is 26, with the range from 4 to 55 percent between the low and high socioeconomic groups of countries, and from 7 to 59 percent between groups of countries with very weak (if any) to strong family planning program effort.