Premarital fertility in rural South Africa: A challenge to existing population policy

The age pattern of fertility in a rural area of South Africa under demograp hic surveillance (Agincourt subdistrict) was investigated over the 1992-97 period. The total fertility rate (TFR) averaged 3.3 births per woman of rep roductive age over the period, a major drop from earlier estimates in the s ame area (6.0 births in 1970-74). Age-specific fertility rates showed rat a typical bimodal pattern. They were decomposed into two components of simila r magnitude: premarital fertility (among women aged 12-26) and marital fert ility (among women aged 15-49). The decomposition revealed the two underlyi ng modes: a mode of premarital fertility (among women aged 18-20) and a mod e of marital fertility (among women aged 28-30). Premarital fertility accou nted for 22 percent of all births and for 47 percent of births among women aged 12-26. This pattern of high premarital fertility appears to reflect a low incidence of contraceptive use before the first birth, especially among adolescents, a low prevalence of abortion, and a high contraceptive preval ence thereafter. This finding calls for a reorientation of the family plann ing policy, which until now has targeted married women and women who have b een pregnant once, but has failed to address the contraceptive needs of you ng women before their first pregnancy, especially adolescents.