A successful population policy: potentials and constraints.

The author offers an historical appraisal of the causes of rapid population growth in developing countries, then discusses the need for and the ethical basis of population policy. He explains the existence of high birth rates in the Third World, suggests measures to be taken as part of population policy, identifies the target groups of population policy, and comments on development policy. Fertility levels have remained high in most developing countries over the past 30 years while mortality has declined. As such, populations have grown rapidly and significantly. Young people of reproductive age now populate most of the developing world. They engage in both premarital and marital sexual intercourse, fueling overall world population growth. Even the most successful of population policies will therefore not bring about marked declines in fertility. The vast number of reproductive-age people, the slow manner in which people adjust their fertility in response to a changing demographic framework, and non-economic factors will combine to ensure that birth rates remain high for a long time. Birth rates will decline over time only when fertility declines in keeping with low and declining rates of mortality.