Control of family size in Greece

Abstract

The crude birth rate in Greece has fallen substantially, from its pre-war level, and the net reproduction rate is now below unity. An extensive field study undertaken by the University Office of Demographic Research, during I962 and I963, revealed that the low fertility rates in Greece stem from a strong desire of married couples, both in urban and rural areas, to keep the size of their family to a manageable level of about two to three children per family. In the absence of any official guidance, married couples practise several contraceptive methods, haphazardly (mostly coitus interruptus in rural areas and coitus interruptus plus condom in the cities), but apparently without much success. Finally they revert to induced abortions which, though illegal in Greece, seem to be performed at a much higher scale than that admitted in the survey. These findings may point to the need of a reconsideration of the official population policy of Greece.

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Notes on contributors

Dimitri Trichopoulos

Office of Biometric and Demographic Research, Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Athens, Greece.