ABSTRACT
A major ingredient of the Population and Development Program approach was modernization of the environment through improved productivity, better management, participatory decision making and female employment, modern and traditional sex roles and power sharing between spouses. The 1976 Egyptian census indicated that 86 percent of the adult women and 55 percent of the men living in rural areas were illiterate. Women's lives tend to be more narrowly confined to the household and village. Forty percent of the wives reported that they would not be permitted to leave their homes by themselves for visiting, and two-thirds said they would not be permitted to travel alone to another city. More couples report communication on family planning than on desired number of children; but it is still the case that only a minority have discussed it. In over one-half of the couples, both husband and wife said that they had not, and in only one-fifth was there agreement that discussion had taken place.
