Husband and Wife Interaction and Family Regulation in Rural Uruguay.

Decision-making and family planning were studied in the rural city of Durazno, Uruguay, by means of answers to questions by both husbands and wives. A sample size of 268 couples in which at least one partner was between 21 and 50 years of age was used. Data were collected by means of a pretested and precoded interview schedule. Major conclusions were that the interactional variables were relatively important for the use of family planning methods; that husband-wife interaction variables were more important than socioeconomic variables; that the higher the degree of perception of equality of men and women on the part of couples, the more likely they are to use family planning methods; that the perception of equality of men and women on the part of couples is more closely related to the use of preventive family planning methods than their level of education; and that the level of education is more closely related to fertility than is perception of equality of men and women and the level of intimate communication. (PS)