ABSTRACT
In 1977, at the same time that the Area Fertility Survey program of annual demographic measurement was initiated, a new population control strategy was begun by the Philippine Population Commission. The erratic and minimal contribution of women fifteen to nineteen is a constant source of distortion; inclusion of women over the age of forty who represent declining natural fertility and diminished sexual activity further complicates the validity of the measure. The largest drop in marital fertility associated with effective contraception is in the thirty to thirty-nine age group. Marital fertility in the Philippines is a rural problem. The remaining direct determinant of fertility is contraception, which directly affects the total marital fertility rate (TMFR). All married women do not contribute equally to the TMFR despite fact that they are weighted equally in computing the statistic. The age-specific and total marital fertility have been computed for current users of contraception, and also for those who were previous users and “never users".
