RI fertility rate drops sharply by 50% in 20 years

RI fertility rate drops sharply by 50% in 20 years

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's fertility rate has declined sharply over the past two decades as the country's family planning program gains more and more participants, a survey on Indonesian demography reveals.

The average fertility rate, which in the early 1970s was recorded at 5.6 pregnancies per woman, declined to only to 2.9 pregnancies in 1994, Head of the Central Bureau of Statistics Soegito told journalists following his meeting with President Soeharto yesterday.

Soegito said many married women feel satisfied with having only two children in their family, as advocated by the country's family planning program campaign.

With nearly 190 million people, Indonesia's population currently ranks fourth in the world. Aware of the problems which might arise from overpopulation, Indonesia launched a family planning program drive in 1970.

Indonesia's efforts to curb its population growth has been acclaimed by various international organizations, including the United Nations.

Soegito, who was accompanied by Minister of Health Sujudi and State Minister for Population Affairs Haryono Suyono at yesterday's press conference, said that the survey was conducted between July and October of last year, during which more than 35,500 families were asked to give their responses.

It was the third survey of its kind since previous ones conducted in 1987 and 1991.

Another result of the 1994 survey, Soegito added, reveals that the use of contraception devices has increased by five percent since 1991.

"In 1991 only 50 percent of the respondents stated that they used contraception. Last year, 55 percent of them said they used some form of birth control device," he said, adding that other methods through implantation are also gaining ground.

He cited President Soeharto as encouraging the development of more implant methods now that it has been proven that more and more women are using them for birth control.

Commenting on the results of the survey, Haryono noted that the decline in the fertility rate was partly due to changing lifestyles and young girls marrying at an older age than they were in the 70s.

"Many (rural) girls married at 15 then. Most girls now prefer to marry after they are 20 years old," Haryono said.

When asked about the decreasing number of today's women who breastfeed their babies, Health Minister Sujudi said that such a trend was not unusual because more mothers work now to earn a living than before.

Sujudi refuted the idea that the presence of manufactured milk, which is readily available even in most rural areas, was the main cause discouraging women to breastfeed. (ego)