Australian family planning surveys: some problems of comparability
Lucas, D.
Journal of Biosocial Science 15(3): 357-366
1983
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-9320 PMID: 6885857 DOI: 10.1017/s002193200001470xDocument Number: 394015
Recently, extremely high levels of pill use in New South Wales, Australia in 1972-73 were reported. However, these levels were considered implausible, partly because they were far higher than would be expected from the results, not only from the 1971 Melbourne Survey, but also from American, Canadian and British experience. This controversy reflects the problems of comparability of Australian data on family planning. Because of the uneven distribution of Australia's population and its overall low population density of about 2 persons/square kilometer, national surveys are expensive and researchers tend to concentrate on specific parts of the country. This means that comparison has to be attempted between surveys with differing methods, populations, and geographical coverage. Because of the rapid changes in contraceptive technology, and in the legal constraints on birth control methods, comparability over time is difficult. This paper concentrates on 6 sample surveys taken in Australia in the 1970s. The 1971 Melbourne Family Survey was the 1st major survey of fertility and family planning in Australia. In 1972 fertility and family planning surveys were begun in New South Wales and in Victoria. In 1978, 2 surveys were conducted: a follow-up to the 1972 Victoria Survey and the Canberra Population Survey. In 1980 Consensus Research Pty. Ltd. undertook the analysis of a national survey on behalf of the Australian Women's Weekly. Among the marked demographic changes in the early 1970s were a delay in the 1st birth after marriage, a trend towards smaller families, a delay in marriage and greater sexual freedom before marriage. 1 limitation of the 1971 Melbourne and 1972-74 New South Wales surveys is that the results relate only to currently married women. The New South Wales survey has the lowest proportion (14%) using methods other than the pill and the highest proportion (42%) of nonusers. Because the proportions of nonusers in the 1971 Melbourne survey and 1972-73 New South Wales survey are so close (37% against 42%), the percentages associated in Melbourne with the reasons for nonuse (trying to become pregnant, pregnancy, and infecundity) are equally applicable to New South Wales. Comparison with the rates of nonuse in the Victoria samples is not possible because of exclusion of persons not considered sexually active by the general practitioner. 3 surveys--the Voice of the Australian Woman, the 1977 Melbourne follow-up and the 1978 Canberra Population Survey--indicate that women with higher education are less likely to be sterilized. Partly as a result of its nonparticipation in the World Fertility Survey, Australia is at a considerable disadvantage because of its lack of national family planning data. However, the switch from oral contraceptives to sterilization is well marked. Whereas the IUD has maintained its popularity, natural methods are shown to be of declining importance.