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REDUCING THE FERTILITY RATE

Migration (moving from one place to another) used to be a solution for overpopulation, but not today. As a species, we have expanded our tange through­out Earth; there is no habitable⁵ location on Earth to which we can migrate that does not already support

humans. Nor is increasing the death rate an acceptable means of regulating population size. Clearly, the way to control our expanding popula­tion is by reducing the number of births. Because the total fertility rate (the average number of chil­dren born to a woman during her lifetime) is influenced by cultural traditions, marriage age, education, family planning, and government policies (which affect fertility by providing economic re­wards and penalties), we examine each of these fac­tors.

    Higher fertility rates in some developing coun­tries are also due to the societal roles of children. In some countries, children usually work in family enterprises (such as farming or commerce), contrib­uting to the family's livelihood. When these children become adults, they provide support for their aging parents. In contrast, children in de­veloped countries have less value as a source of labor, because they attend school and because human labor is less important in a mechanized society. Further, developed countries provide a number of social services for the elderly, so the bur­den of their care does not fall entirely on their offspring.

Educational Opportunities and Fertility

Women with mote education tend to marry later and have fewer children. Fer­tility rates of women in the United States with dif­ferent education levels. Providing women with educational opportunities delays their first child­birth, thereby reducing the number of childbearing years and increasing the amount of time between generations. Education also opens the door to greater career opportunities and changes women's lifetime aspirations. In the United States, it is not uncommon for a woman in her thirties or forties to give birth to her first child, after establishing a ca­reer.

    In developing countries there is also a strong correlation between the average amount of education a woman receives and fertility rate. For exam­ple, women with a secondary (high school) educa­tion have fewer children than women with only a primary (elementary school) education. Education increases the: likelihood that women will know how to control their fertility, and it provides them with knowledge to improve the health of their families, which results in a decrease in infant mortality. Edu­cation also increases women's options, opening doors to other careers and ways of achieving status besides having babies.

    Education may have an indirect effect on fertil­ity rate, as well. Children who are educated have a greater chance of improving their living standards, partly because they have more employment oppor­tunities. Parents who recognize this may be more willing to invest in the education of a few children than in the birth of many children whom they can­not afford to educate. The ability of better-

Bringing the Land Back to Life

One result of overpopulation is that land becomes degraded through deforestation, overgrazing, and intensive agricultural prac­tices. We tend to look upon this land as bar­ren and without value. But a group of Euro­pean and Indian settlers, who colonized 2,000 acres of desiccated plateau in southern India in 1968, have proven that even the most desperate conditions can be overcome with patience and hard work. Their commu­nity, called Auroville, experiences six months of drought each year and an annual monsoon that washes away topsoil. In the face of these conditions, through the construction of earthen barriers called "bunds," the people slowly retained rainwater, replenished wells, planted over one million valuable trees-many of them cash crops such as mango, jackfruit, cashew, papaya, and banana—and composted to improve the soil with organic waste. The end result is an economically and ecologically productive community that now supplies 70% of its own food and sells sur­pluses of milk, fruits, and vegetables. Auroville uses no purchased fertilizers or pes­ticides and has accepted no outside funding.

educated people to earn more money may be one of the reasons why smaller family size is associated with increased family income, although another ions reason is that fewer children art fewer mouths to feed and, thus, are less of a drain on the family income.

Government Policies and Fertility

The involvement of governments in child bearing is well established. Laws determine the minimum age at which people may marry and the amount of edu­cation that is compulsory. Governments may allot portions of their budgets to family planning ser­vices, education, primary health care, old-age secu­rity, or incentives for smaller or larger family size. The tax structure, including additional charges or allowances based on family size, also affects fertility.

    In recent years, the governments of many de­veloping countries have recognized the need to limit population growth and have formulated poli­cies (such as economic rewards and penalties) de­signed to achieve this goal. Most countries sponsor family planning projects, many of which are inte­grated with primary health care, education, eco­nomic development, and efforts to improve wom­en's status. A number of these projects are supported by the United Nations Fund for Popula­tion Activities.

    Population control measures have been insti­tuted in many developing countries. Here we ex­amine those in China, India (the world's two most populous nations), Nigeria, and Mexico.

China, with a mid-1992 estimated popula­tion of 1.17 billion people, has the largest popula­tion in the world. Recognizing that its rate of popu­lation growth had to decrease or the quality of life for everyone in China would be compromised, the Chinese government in 1979 instigated an aggres­sive plan to push China into the third demographic stage. (Recall from Chapter 8 that the third demo­graphic stage is characterized by a decline in the birth rate along with a relatively low death rate.) Announcements were made of incentives to pro­mote later marriages and one-child families. Local jurisdictions were assigned the task of reaching this goal. A couple who signed a pledge to limit them­selves to a single child might be eligible for such incentives as medical care and schooling for that child, cash bonuses, preferential housing, and old-age security. Penalties were also instituted, includ­ing tines and the surrender of all privileges if a sec­ond child was born.

    China's aggressive plan brought about an im­mediate and drastic reduction in fertility, from 5.8

births per woman in 1970 to 2.1 births per woman in 1981. However, it compromised individual free­dom of choice. In some instances, social pressures from the community induced women who were pregnant with a second child to get abortion;-. Moreover, based on the disproportionate number of male versus female babies reported born 1981, it is suspected that thousands of newborn baby girls were killed by their parents who, if required to con form to the one-baby policy, wanted it to be a boy. In China, sons traditionally provide old-age security for their parents and—for this and other cultural reasons—are valued more highly than daugh­ters.

Recently, China's population control program has used education and publicity campaigns, more than penalties, to achieve its goals. China trains population specialists at institutions such as the Nanjing College for Family Planning Administrators. In addition, thousands of second­ary school teachers have been taught how to integrate population education into the curriculum.

India is the second most populous nation in the world, with an estimated mid-1992 population

of 883 million. It was the first country to establish government-sponsored family planning, in the 1950s. Unlike China, India did not experience immediate results from its efforts to control popula­tion growth, in part because of the diverse cultures, religions, and customs in different regions of the country. For example, Indians speak hundreds of different dialects, which makes a broad program of family planning education difficult.

    In 1976 the Indian government became more aggressive. It introduced not only incentives to control population growth, but also controversial programs of compulsory sterilization in a number of states. If a man had three or more living children, he was compelled to obtain a vasectomy. Compul­sory sterilization was a failure; it had little effect on the birth rate and was exceedingly unpopular. It may have been partly responsible for Indira Gandhi being voted out of office in 1977.

    More recently, India has integrated develop­ment and family planning projects. For example, adult literacy and population education programs have been combined. Multimedia advertisements and education have been used to promote volun­tary birth control. India has also emphasized lower­ing the infant mortality rate, improving women's status, and increasing birth spacing. These changes have had an effect: India's total fertility rate has declined from 5.3 in 1980 to 3.9 in 1992.

    Mexico, with a mid-1992 estimated popu­lation of 87.7 million, is the second most populous nation, in Latin America- (Brazil, with a population of 151 million, is the most populous.) Mexico has a tremendous potential for growth because 38 percent of its population is less than 15 years of age. Even with n low birth rate, the population would still increase in the future because of the numbers of people having babies.

    In 1973 the Mexican government instigated a number of measures to reduce population growth, such as educational reform, family planning, and primary health care. Mexico has had great suc­cess in reducing its fertility level, from 6.7 births per woman in 1970 to 3.8 births per woman in 1992.

    Mexico's goal includes not only population sta­bilization, hut balanced regional development. Its urban population is 71 percent of its total popula­tion, and most of these people live in Mexico City. Although Mexico is largely urbanized compared to other developing countries, its urban-based industrial economy has not been able to absorb the great number of people in the work farce, and unemploy­ment is very high. Consequently, many Mexicans have migrated, both legally and illegally, to the United States.

    Mexico's recent efforts at population control include multimedia campaigns. For example, popular television and radio soap operas carry family planning are disturbed, and population education is being inte­grated into the public school curriculum. Social workers receive training in family planning as pun of their education.

    Nigeria is part of the sub-Saharan region that currently has the most rapid population growth on Earth. Nigeria has the highest popula­tion of any African country: in mid-1992 its population

was estimated at 90.1 million people. Its total fertility rate is 6.5 births per woman, and it has great reproductive potential because 45 percent of the population is less than 15 years of age. The av­erage life expectancy in Nigeria is 48.5 years, which is low in part because of the high infant mortality rate.