By providing access to contraceptives, state-supported family planning programs in these countries enabled women to have greater control over reproduction. The proportion of women using contraceptives in East Asia was four times the rate in Africa; surveys showed that the difference was largely explained by the state provision of contraceptives in East Asia. And when access to contraceptives was joined to greater access by women to education, the trend was for women to limit their births in order to accumulate resources to improve their families’ living standards. Such were the dynamics of the demographic revolution in East Asia.