Motivation and Fertility Control Behaviour in Pakistan

Using data from the Population, Labour Force and Migration(PLM) Survey of 1979-80, this paper examines the component of potentialmotivation for fertility limita- . tion among Pakistani married womenand then determines what factors are important in explaining thecontraceptive use differentials among the potentially motivated subgroupof women. The analysis is conducted using logit regression models. Thefindings show that, among women wanting no additional children, asubstantial proportion is reluctant to adopt fertility controlbehaviour, confirming the existence of latent demand for contraceptionin all strata. A majority of those women report no exposure to theprogramme or no contact with a family planning worker, and a largemajority of those who have had exposure or have been contacted do notreport contraceptive use, indicating a considerable shortfall of theprogramme. Among the urban women wanting no more children, the importantfactors affecting contraceptive use positively are education (bothprimary and secondary), household income, living in nuclear family,exposure to the programme, and contact with a family planning worker.For rural women, only nuclear family living and the programme factorsare significant in promoting contraceptive use. The suggestions likelyto increase contraceptive prevalence are, first, to reach those womenwho have the potential motivation for contraception, and, second, toincrease the quality and sources of the motivation efforts of theprogramme to crystallize the latent demand among those who needit.