Impacts of IEC activities and awareness of social support policies on family planning acceptance

Analysis of 2 data sets--1974 World Fertility Survey data and National Fertility and Family Health Survey data collected in 1984--suggests that IEC activities have had a significant impact on family planning acceptance in Korea. Respondents were dichotomized into 2 groups: those practicing family planning versus those neither desiring pregnancy nor practicing family planning. Although the proportion of those not desiring pregnancy who were not using a contraceptive method declined from 29% in 1974 to 12% in 1985 there remained in 1985 a total of 699891 women with an unmet need for family planning. Given current family size norms in Korea a contraceptive prevalence rate of 82% is required to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Those surveyed who were not practicing family planning despite a desire for no further pregnancies were found to have less access to family planning messages than contraceptive users. Women in the former group further tended to be younger less educated and more rural-based than contraceptive users. Overall socioeconomic variables explained 64% of the variation between the 2 groups in the study while IEC variables explained 57% and awareness of social support systems contributed 74%.