Women in poor households (40.1%) are less likely to practice family planning than those in non-poor households (50.2%). This difference is due mainly to a higher prevalence of female sterilization among non-poor women than among poor women (13.2% versus 5.1%).
The pill is the most preferred contraceptive method for both poor (13.3%) and non-poor women (13.8%). Female sterilization is the second most preferred method among the non-poor women (13.2%) while it is calendar/rhythm among poor women (9.4%).
There is a very little difference between the level of contraceptive use of women involved in gainful occupation and that of women not engaged in any gainful occupation (47.3% versus 46.8%). Preference for pill, female sterilization, and calendar/rhythm method over other methods is common among gainful and non-gainful women.
The use of family planning methods is most popular among elementary (49.5%) and high school graduates (49.5%) and is least popular among women who did not complete any grade (39.5%). However, there is a notable increase in the prevalence rate of modern methods among women with no grade completed (from 22.7% in 1999 to 27.4% in 2000). On the other hand, the level of use of traditional methods among women with no grade completed is down from 17.3 to 12.1 percent.
These are the findings from the 2000 Family Planning Survey (FPS) conducted by the National Statistics Office with funding assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It is a nationwide survey covering women 15 to 49 years old.
Percent distribution of currently married women by current contraceptive method used, by selected background characteristics, Philippines:2000 | |||||
Selected Background Characteristics |
Percent Using | Percent Not Using | Total | ||
Any Method | Modern1 | Traditional2 | |||
Socio-economic Status3 | |||||
Poor | 40.1 | 26.3 | 13.9 | 59.9 | 100.0 |
Non-poor | 50.2 | 35.0 | 15.1 | 49.8 | 100.0 |
Usual Occupation | |||||
Gainful Occupation | 47.3 | 32.3 | 15.0 | 52.7 | 100.0 |
Non-gainful Occupation | 46.8 | 32.2 | 14.5 | 53.2 | 100.0 |
Education | |||||
No Grade Completed | 39.5 | 27.4 | 12.1 | 60.5 | 100.0 |
Elementary | 46.2 | 31.0 | 15.3 | 53.8 | 100.0 |
Grade I to V | 46.3 | 30.6 | 15.7 | 53.7 | 100.0 |
Graduate | 49.5 | 34.7 | 14.8 | 50.5 | 100.0 |
High School | 48.4 | 33.8 | 14.5 | 51.6 | 100.0 |
1st ? 3rd Year | 47.0 | 32.8 | 14.2 | 52.9 | 100.0 |
Graduate | 49.5 | 34.7 | 14.8 | 50.5 | 100.0 |
College | 47.1 | 33.2 | 13.9 | 52.9 | 100.0 |
Undergraduate | 46.6 | 33.2 | 13.5 | 53.3 | 100.0 |
Graduate, higher | 47.6 | 33.3 | 14.3 | 52.4 | 100.0 |
Notes: 1 Modern methods include pill, IUD, injection, diaphragm/foam/jelly/cream, condom, female sterilization, male sterilization, mucus/billings/ovulation, temperature, and LAM. 2 Traditional methods include calendar/rhythm and withdrawal. 3 Each household was classified into poor or non-poor based on the score that indicates the household?s socio-economic standing. This score was calculated based on the responses in the FPS on the presence of housing conveniences. Source: National Statistics Office, 2000 Family Planning Survey |