Population Policy

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Population Policy

• 12 September 2008

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The Primary Goal of Population Policy Speed Up
the Demographic Transition
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(No Transcript)
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Different Approaches to Population Policy

• Top-Down or Technocratic Approach emphasizes
  contraceptive availability, monetary incentives
  for reduced fertility, and is often based on
  national or regional targets for reduced birth
  rates.
• Bottom-Up or Holistic Approach emphasizes the
  CONTEXT within which women and couples make
  decisions about family size. Works to change the
  conditions that encourage high birth rates and
  create conditions (e.g. education, economic
  security) where couples WANT to adopt family
  planning practices.

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Factors that Contribute to Lowering Fertility
Rates

• Contraceptive availability and affordability
• Education, especially for young girls and women
• Employment opportunities, economic security
• Access to the means of production (e.g. land,
  financial capital)
• Health and nutrition, better pre- and post-natal
  care and reduced infant mortality
• Urbanization, modernization
• Improved status of women in society, changes in
  societal definitions of what a successful woman
  is.

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Contraceptive Availability and Affordability
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Contraceptive Availability is Not Enough
A study done in the 1990s compared fertility
rates in a number of African and Caribbean
countries with similar access to contraceptives
(Handwerker, W.P. 1991. Women's power and
fertility transition the cases of Africa and the
West Indies. Population and Environment
13(1)55-78).
Caribbean
Africa

• Dominican Republic TFR 2.8
• Jamaica TFR 2.5
• Trinidad and Tobago 1.7

• Benin TFR 6.1
• Chad TFR 6.7
• Mali TFR 7.0

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Education for Girls and Women
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Education for Girls and Women
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Education for Girls and Women
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Education for Girls and Women
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Employment Opportunities and Economic Security
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Health Care and Reduced Infant Mortality
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Trends in Urbanization, by Region
Urban Population Percent
Source United Nations, World Urbanization
Prospects The 2003 Revision (medium scenario),
2004.
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Conclusion

• A fundamental goal of any population policy
  should be to improve and enhance the status of
  women in society. This can be done through
  promotion of greater education and employment
  opportunities, as well as by improving access to
  health care.
• Population policy should not be separated from
  broader development goals like increased
  literacy, increased economic development, better
  health and nutrition, and human rights.
• The most effective approach to speeding up the
  demographic transition is to change the broader
  CONTEXT within which women and men make decisions
  about family size and fertility.
• The developed nations of the world if they are
  serious about achieving these goals need to do
  more in the areas of foreign development aid,
  debt relief, trade policy, support for family
  planning programs, and their willingness to
  address their own over-consumption.

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Consumption Patterns for Countries of the North
(24 of global population) and Countries of the
South (76 of global population)