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This study examined unmet need in Morocco. Data were obtained from the 1992 and 1995 Demographic and Health Surveys among 3324 women aged 15-46 years in 1992 and from 1429 new respondents aged 15-17 years in 1995. Analysis is based on a subsample of 1682 women who were interviewed twice. Unmet need excludes the intentions of pregnant or amenorrheic women who desired more children or intended to resume use. During 1992-95 the number of women in need of contraception declined from 21% to 12%. The proportion of women using a contraceptive method increased from 46% to 56%. 84% of women in 1992 with unmet need for spacing gave birth in the following 3 years or were pregnant. 58% of women who had unmet need for limiting gave birth by 1995 or were currently pregnant. Only 33% of these births were reported as unwanted. 15% of the re-interviewed sample wanted no more children but were not using contraception. 25% of women who were using contraception in 1992 and wanted no more children gave birth by 1995; 46% reported the birth as unwanted. 29% of women with unmet need in 1992 had unmet need in 1995. 77% of women who were using a method in 1992 were using a method in 1995. Only 5% stopped using and moved into the unmet need group. 51% of women in the "other" nonuser group were still there in 1995. The authors expressed particular concern about the 5% of all married women (the total re-interview sample) who had unmet need in both years because the women contributed to 66% of unwanted fertility. Opposition to contraception for religious reasons or due to partners objections were the hardest to overcome.

2 different data sources were used to determine the answers to the questions: 1) Are the poor less likely to use physician-administered contraception (PAC) than the nonpoor? 2) Are the poor more likely to use drugstore methods than the nonpoor? 3) Do the poor have higher rates of unwanted births than the nonpoor? and 4) Can the higher rates of unwanted births to the poor be attributed to their lower use of PAC? It was determined that there are no important differences in the use of PAC among whites by income but that among blacks PAC is more common among high income women than among low. The poor are not more likely to use drugstore methods than the nonpoor. The poor of each race have higher rates of unwanted births. It is unlikely that the differences in rates of unwanted fertility as large as those observed could be caused by the trivial differences in method use. Increase of the use of PAC among the poor would not substantially reduce the gap in unwanted fertility between the poor and nonpoor.