Fertility Preferences and Contraceptive Use in Pakistan

Pakistan, established in 1947, is currently experiencing one of the highest growth rates of population in the world. If the 1972-81 intercensal growth rate continues, the population size would be approximately 95 million in 1985 and 150 million by the year 2000. The growing population size is already straining the scarce resources of the country and will further aggravate the level of socia-economic development; for the family planning programme which was launched to check the pace of population growth has not produced any tangible results. The major criterion for the successful implementation of a programme is that there should exist an effective demand in the society which should be matched equally with the supply. In Pakistan, the reverse has been experienced so far. The programme has been very active in maintaining an adequate supply of contraceptives without perceiving the demand situation. For the desired achievement of a programme three preconditions deduced from the demographic transition theory have been set forth by Coale [3]. The demand aspect of these includes perceived choice of an individual and favourable socio-economic conditions for declined fertility. In order to facilitate transformation of the perceived choice into behaviour, the availability of appropriate contraceptive technology is essential.