The results of a two-year longitudinal study of the effect that development program incentives have upon family planning in Northeastern Thailand are presented. These incentives, implemented by the Population and Community Development Association, Thailand, included animal raising and agricultural, home industry, and environmental activities. An experimental design including baseline and follow-up surveys supplemented by a continuous monitoring system was utilized to test hypotheses on the family planning impacts of the incentives. Findings indicate that the incentives contributed significantly to the maintenance of high levels of family planning practice through the program period 1982-1984.
PIP: The results of a 2-year longitudinal study of the effect that development program incentives have upon family planning in Northeastern Thailand are presented. These incentives, implemented by the Population and Community Development Association, Thailand, included animal raising and agricultural, home industry, and environmental activities. An experimental design including baseline and follow-up surveys supplemented by a continuous monitoring system was utilized to test hypotheses on the family planning impacts of the incentives. It was hypothesized that: 1) couples in experimental areas with a greater number and availability of development incentives will have a greater increase in contraceptive practice than couples in experimental areas with a lower number and availability of incentives; 2) in the experimental areas, couples who accept development incentives will have a greater increase in contraceptive practice than other couples; and 3) continuation of family planning practice in the experimental areas will be more prevalent among users who accept a development incentive than among others. Data collection focused on currently married couples in which the females were aged 15-44 years. In the baseline survey, data was collected on social, economic, and demographic factors and family planning. Over 1000 households were interviewed for each experimental model. The 1st hypothesis was not supported by the findings. The 2nd was supported by results from 1 model. The 3rd was supported by the data. Findings indicate that the incentives contributed significantly to the maintenance of high levels of family planning practice through the program period 1982-1984. The findings from this study suggest several avenues for further research and evaluation. Additional data need to be collected from the control area to assess the extent and impact of development incentives introduced by the government. Additionally, the process of program implementation in the experimental areas needs to be given greater attention. As the program continues, its impact on income, employment, migration, and fertility and mortality need to be measured carefully.