The Effects of Race and Socio-Economic Status on Family Planning

This paper examines the relative strength of race and socioeconomic status as predictors of family planning behavior. Information about the contraceptive behavior of 1,000 clients of a planned parenthood agency was used to determine if differences between races basically reflect socio-economic differences, as is usually assumed. It was found that race rather than socio-economic status accounted for most of the variance. The implications of this finding are discussed. It appears necessary to give as much attention to race as to socio-economic status in research on a combined Negro and white population.