A cross-section community based study was designed to study 616 currently married
women of reproductive age in a relatively rapid developing village (Elwan Village), Assiut District,
Assiut Governorate. Systematic random sample was conducted using a pre-designed questionnaire
to study the reproductive behaviors among different socia-economic status and factors, which may
affect contraceptive use. Another aim was to compare the family planning (FP) use and socioeconomic
indicators with a previous study conducted in the same village in 1991 by Labeeb, 1994.
According to Fahmy and El Sherbini scoring ' (1993): 63%. 29.5% and 7.5% belonged to low,
middle and high SES respectively. FP knowledge was very high (99%), also the current use rate
(50.9%) and ever users (62%) were high. The mean numbers of pregnancies and living children
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were (5.28±2.85) and (4.02±2.16) and four FP methods were known on the average. Wives started
FP use at an early age with small number of living children and mainly for spacing. IUDs (7 1.3%)
and pills (19.7%) were the most commonly used methods and most of wives knew pills, IUDs and
injectables spontaneously. Mass media (95.3%) and relatives (54.1%) were the main sources of
knowledge. By using Multiple Regression Model, age of starting FP use, number of living children,
duration of marriage and FP knowledge were the significant predictors of FP ever uses. By
comparing the current study with the previous study conducted by Labeeb (1994), the economic
development (sanitation and electric appliance) was much more than social development as
education. The FP use increased from 29.4% to 50.9% (98.3% increase). Therefore, socioeconomic
improvements were found to have significant effects on reproductive profile.