Spouses' views of contraception in the Philippines

Data from a 1993 survey in the Philippines indicate that, in the aggregate, men and women have similar views of contraception. For example, 72% of husbands and 77% of wives strongly approved of contraception, and at least half believed that relatives and friends approved (although men were less likely than women to think so). At the couple level, however, men's perceptions about contraception often differ from those of their wives. A relatively large amount of disagreement exists about the importance of certain contraceptive attributes and the extent to which these attributes apply to specific methods. This disagreement is associated both with lower levels of contraceptive use and with greater conflict over intentions to use contraceptives in the future. For example, when both spouses approve of family planning in general, 81% of couples share the same intentions to practice contraception in the future; but among couples who disagree over approval of contraception, just 43% share intentions about future use.