The Singapore Family Planning Program: further evaluation data.

Abstract

Since fertility decline was apparent in Singapore where social and economic change has been rapid before the introduction of the Singapore Government Family Planning Program in January 1966 a mathematical method was applied to determine how much of the recent decline in birth rate is attributable to the program. Further births were projected from the assumption A that age-specific fertility rates would persist at the level prior to the program and from the assumption B that the changes in fertility observed over the preceding 5 years would continue at the same rate. The numerical differences between the actual total number of births each year and the numbers calculated from A and B gave the number of births saved in the nation each year (A) and how many of those births should be credited to the program (B). From January 1966 to December 1969 overall fertility declined 30.3% from the 1965 level. Using the described method a little less than 50% of the observed decline seemed to be due to the additional family planning activity since January 1966.