A Top Priority: Family Planning Assistance for Rural America
T HE American people have been concerned about rural poverty for some time. As a nation, we took our first significant actions to correct the rural poverty situation in the 1860's [11, p. 1352]. One hundred and ten years later we find the problems are still with us. Through the years our farm programs have not been successful in eliminating the causes of rural poverty. Rural America has had a high rate of human fertility when compared with the urban sector. In 1960 the rural farm fertility rate for all women ever married was 50 percent higher than for women in urbanized areas. In the younger age group, 20 to 24 years, rural farm women had 1.29 children for every one born to urban women [16, p. 359]. Recently there have been serious discussions suggesting that this high rate of fertility is contributing significantly to the continuing economic plight of rural people. It is the purpose of this paper to point out the need for continuing discussion, study, and, eventually, adoption of a national family planning assistance program for the rural poor. The time has come to recognize that high fertility in rural America only magnifies the traditional indicators of rural poverty such as low income, inadequate educational opportunity, and insufficient health care. It is time to recognize the evidence that rural parents do want smaller families.
Family Planning and Poverty
Research on fertility shows that in the United States many of the historic differentials are disappearing. Yet there remain paradoxes one of which is that a disproportionate number of nonwhite families still remain very significantly outside the area of effective fertility control. In terms of family size preferences the author reviews the literature with particular emphasis on the results of the Growth of American Families (GAF) studies that showed that American married women thought 2 to 4 children were an "ideal" size family and that nonwhites wanted a significantly smaller average number of children than whites (2.7-3 children vs 3.1-3.5 for whites). It remains a fact however that the actual fertility levels are higher than the stated ideals or desires. The GAF data shows that 1 out of 5 couples with children have excess fertility which means the last child was unwanted by either the wife or the husband. To understand this apparent discrepancy one has to consider the current state of contraceptives and their usage in the United States. The author suggests that the motivation problems should also be seriously considered.
An assessment of the Impact of Devolution on Women Empowerment in Nakuru County
-Women have been grossly marginalized in organs of decision-making and governance structures. The Constitution of Kenya has sought to bridge this gap by providing both women and men the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres. However, gender equality has not been achieved and women are still lagging in terms of decision making processes. The main objective of the study was to detemine the impact of devolution on women empowerment in Nakuru County. The study found that substantive women representation, development of programs and accessibility of services had a positive effect on the women empowerment in Nakuru County. The study also found out that increased accessibility of Services by women influenced women empowerment, this study also concludes that the introduction of development programs had the greatest impact on women empowerment in Nakuru County. The study recommends that more programs targeting women should be introduced as these have the greatest impact on women empowerment. The findings may be used to make conclusions and recommendations.