The least successful and most vulnerable households are those which depend only on their direct agricultural production and sale of their labour. The most successful households have incomes from both rural and urban activities. 7 Investment in children's education enables families to take advantage of formal employment opportunities and use their available resources more productively. The past two decades have seen a dramatic expansion of exposure to mass media in rural areas. Since these are almost by definition urban media and present an overwhelmingly urban portrayal of life and values, their impact on attitudes and behaviour has been profound.
Radio is the medium with the widest coverage.
Developing countries as a whole average 176 sets per thousand of population. Sub-Saharan Africa 142 and South Asia 79. These figures underestimate radio's actual reach. For example, Bangladesh is estimated to have 44 radio sets per thousand of population but representative national surveys indicate that in urban areas more than half of the married women of reproductive age have listened to a radio within the last week and in rural areas more than a third. 9 South Asian surveys show that more than half the married women of reproductive age report having a radio in their household.