In Bogota, there were substantial changes in the formation and expansion of families, with great variation between socio-economic strata. In comparable rural sectors in the provinces of Boyac and Cundinamarca, there were substantial changes in the size of families but not in their stages of formation, and this applied to all socio-economic strata. Changing marriage patterns have contributed to a decline in fertility among urban women in the upper stratum. However, nuptiality has not played an important role in the decline among urban women in the low and middle strata and all rural women, who have achieved their smaller families through contraception. There seemed to be an important difference in the use of birth control between the two areas.
Urban women use it to space births as part of obtaining a smaller family.
Rural women, on the other hand, use family planning after they have had the smaller family they want. Most rural women agreed married women should control their family size, but only after they had had some children. Although there have been substantial gains in female education in both urban and country areas and in all strata, primary schooling was the most usual attainment in rural areas, primary and secondary education were common in the lower and middle urban strata, and higher educational levels were likely to be confined to the upper urban stratum. Education usually relates to lower fertility. However, evidence from both areas suggests that this only occurred after a certain level had been reached.