According to data collected by the Vietnam Living Standards Survey 199
2-93, total fertility was 3.2. This level is low for such a poor count
ry, and reflects a continued fall from 5.6 in 1979, uninterrupted by t
he rapid transition from a planned to a market economy. Oddly, the pro
ximate causes of the low total fertility, including contraceptive user
and abortion rates, imply a value close to 2. One explanation may be
that households overstate the degree to which they use contraception.
To maintain the momentum of falling fertility, a more user-oriented ap
proach to family planning is required, offering a wider variety of con
traceptive options.