Population, Environment, and Women’s Issues

Ultimately, the necessity to supply food, energy, habitat, infrastructure, and consumer goods for the ever-growing population is responsible for the demise of the environment. Remedial actions for pollution abatement, and further technological progress toward energy efficiency, development of new crops, and improvements in manufacturing processes may help to mitigate the severity of environmental deterioration. However, we can hardly hope for restoration of a clean environment, improvement in human health, and an end to poverty without arresting the continuous growth of the world population. According to the United Nations count, world population reached 6 billion in mid October 1999 (1). The rate of population growth and the fertility rates by continent, as well as in the United States and Canada, are presented in Table 14.1. It can be seen that the fastest population growth occurs in the poorest countries of the world. Despite the worldwide decrease in fertility rates between 1975–80 period and that of 1995–2000, the rate of population growth in most developing countries changed only slightly due to the demographic momentum, which means that because of the high fertility rates in the previous decades, the number of women of childbearing age had increased. Historically, the preference for large families in the developing nations was in part a result of either cultural or religious traditions. In some cases there were practical motivations, as children provided helping hands with farm chores and a security in old age. At present the situation is changing. A great majority of governments of the developing countries have recognized that no improvement of the living standard of their citizens will ever be possible without slowing the explosive population growth. By 1985, a total of 70 developing nations had either established national family planning programs, or provided support for such programs conducted by nongovernmental agencies; now only four of the world’s 170 countries limit access to family planning services. As result, 95% of the developing world population lives in countries supporting family planning. Consequently, the percentage of married couples using contraceptives increased from less than 10% in 1960 to 57% in 1997.

Author(s):  
Emily Klancher Merchant

Chapter 6 documents the fragmentation of what had previously been a consensus regarding global population growth at the end of the 1960s and beginning of the 1970s, resulting in the emergence of two separate factions. The population establishment continued to promote the position of the erstwhile consensus, which held that rapid population growth in developing countries was a barrier to economic development and could be adequately slowed through voluntary family planning programs. The population bombers contended that population growth anywhere in the world posed an immediate existential threat to the natural environment and American national security and needed to be halted through population control measures that demographers had previously rejected as coercive. These two positions went head-to-head at the UN World Population Conference in 1974, where both were rejected by leaders of developing countries.


2009 ◽  
Vol 364 (1532) ◽  
pp. 3049-3065 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Joseph Speidel ◽  
Deborah C. Weiss ◽  
Sally A. Ethelston ◽  
Sarah M. Gilbert

Human consumption is depleting the Earth's natural resources and impairing the capacity of life-supporting ecosystems. Humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively over the past 50 years than during any other period, primarily to meet increasing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel. Such consumption, together with world population increasing from 2.6 billion in 1950 to 6.8 billion in 2009, are major contributors to environmental damage. Strengthening family-planning services is crucial to slowing population growth, now 78 million annually, and limiting population size to 9.2 billion by 2050. Otherwise, birth rates could remain unchanged, and world population would grow to 11 billion. Of particular concern are the 80 million annual pregnancies (38% of all pregnancies) that are unintended. More than 200 million women in developing countries prefer to delay their pregnancy, or stop bearing children altogether, but rely on traditional, less-effective methods of contraception or use no method because they lack access or face other barriers to using contraception. Family-planning programmes have a successful track record of reducing unintended pregnancies, thereby slowing population growth. An estimated $15 billion per year is needed for family-planning programmes in developing countries and donors should provide at least $5 billion of the total, however, current donor assistance is less than a quarter of this funding target.


1995 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 306-307
Author(s):  
Naushin Mahmood

This volume is a report that presents the results of the extensive research undertaken in family planning over the past two decades. In a concise form the empirical findings on family planning and its programme-related issues have been described in simple statements, with summary evidence or illustration for each statement. The report has four main parts and twelve chapters in all. In the first part, the two chapters which cover information on contraceptive prevalence, fertility, and family planning programmes give an overall view of the changes that have occurred in total fertility rates and programme effort scores in different regions and selected developing countries of the world.


2005 ◽  
Vol 44 (4II) ◽  
pp. 1135-1150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohsin Hasnain Ahmad ◽  
Usman Azhar ◽  
Syed Ashraf Swati ◽  
Zeshan Inam

Economic development and population growth in the poor areas of the earth is a subject of an essential concern for the environmental economists. Developing countries are facing and suffering by the serious problem of high population growth which is causing environmental degradation. A rapidly growing population exerts pressure on agricultural land and raises demand for food and shelter which encourages the conversion of forest land for agricultural and residential uses, now we know that growing population is a major cause of air, water, and solid waste pollution. The world population was 2.52 billion in the year 1950, which increased to 6.06 billion in 2000 and is likely to reach 8.3 billion by the year 2030. While the population size will remain almost stationary in the economically developed part of the world, around 1.2 billion, during the same period population is likely to grow in the less developed regions. This is likely to pose challenges for the economic growth and pressure on environmental resources in the developing countries. Furthermore, most of the population growth in the developing countries is likely to be concentrated in the urban areas. This has implication for increased demand for energy and water resources in the urban areas. This will also pose challenges for the management of increased solid waste, air and water pollution. One of the striking experiences of the developing


1980 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 335-347
Author(s):  
Patricia Klobus-Edwards ◽  
John A. Ballweg

During the past two decades, developing countries, recognizing the need to control rapid population growth, have relied heavily upon family planning programmes established under both public and private auspices. By 1973, approximately 28 per cent of the developing countries in the world had official population reduction policies, and 26 per cent of these countries provided support to private family planning programmes.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serena Stefani ◽  
Gabriele Prati

Research on the relationship between fertility and gender ideology revealed inconsistent results. In the present study, we argue that inconsistencies may be due to the fact that such relationship may be nonlinear. We hypothesize a U- shaped relationship between two dimensions of gender ideology (i.e. primacy of breadwinner role and acceptance of male privilege) and fertility rates. We conducted a cross-national analysis of 60 countries using data from the World Values Survey as well as the World Population Prospects 2019. Controlling for gross domestic product, we found support for a U-shaped relationship between gender ideology and fertility. Higher levels of fertility rates were found at lower and especially higher levels of traditional gender ideology, while a medium level of gender ideology was associated with the lowest fertility rate. This curvilinear relationship is in agreement with the phase of the gender revolution in which the country is located. Traditional beliefs are linked to a complementary division of private versus public sphere between sexes, while egalitarian attitudes are associated with a more equitable division. Both conditions strengthen fertility. Instead, as in the transition phase, intermediate levels of gender ideology’s support are associated with an overload and a difficult reconciliation of the roles that women have to embody (i.e. working and nurturing) so reducing fertility. The present study has contributed to the literature by addressing the inconsistencies of prior research by demonstrating that the relationship between gender ideology and fertility rates is curvilinear rather than linear.


Author(s):  
Neha Thakur ◽  
Nahid Zia Khan ◽  
Narendra Rai

Background: Barabanki one of the most populous districts of Uttar Pradesh with population growth rate being much higher than the national population growth rate. The objective of this study was to gain the knowledge about awareness and contraceptive practices in married women residing in Barabanki. To identify socio-demographic factors associated with unmet needs for contraceptionand also to ascertain the participation of husband in family planning.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in outpatient department of Obstetrics Gynecology and Department of Pediatrics in Medical college hospital in Barabanki. 144 females were enrolled in the study during the study period of one year. They were interviewed on the basis of a pre-structured proforma. Data obtained was then analyzed.Results: A total 144 women in the age group 18-45 years participated in the study of which 53% had knowledge of contraception. More than two thirds were not using any form of contraception. The most common method of contraception was barrier method followed by Depot medroxy progesterone acetate. Copper T was least used mode of contraception. The most common source of knowledge regarding contraception was from electronic media followed by friends and family. The most common reason behind the absence of contraception was lack of knowledge of contraception and husband disapproval.Conclusions: Poor knowledge of contraception led to decreased usage of contraceptive measures. Husband participation is virtually absent in family planning leading to high fertility. In order to make our family planning programs successful we must incorporate media for wider coverage to increase awareness and husbands for better implementation.


Author(s):  
L. M. Sintserov

The article deals with international migration during the last decades of the 20th and at the beginning of the 21st centuries and its economic-geographical analysis. The paper provides an overview of opinions about the dating of the contemporary era of global migration. It is shown that only after completion of spatial restructuring of migration processes and with the transition to sustainable growth of the share of international migrants in the world population, the modern increase of migration begins. On the basis of the UN statistics the main sources of migrants to the countries of Western Europe have been determined as well as shifts in the geographical structure of migrant population of the region that have taken place in the last quarter of a century. Two migration waves directed to the core of the European region from its southern and then from the eastern periphery are determined. The transformation of the USA population structure caused by the migration inflow from Latin America and Asia is described. The ratio of the main directions of global migration is shown: South-South, South-North, etc. At the same time, it is noted that a rather limited part of international migrations is associated with the asynchrony of demographic processes in the regions of the world. The article also discusses the remittances of migrants from developing countries to their homeland, forming powerful financial flows, which are second only to foreign direct investment. They play an especially important role in the economies of developing countries. The calculations show that the contribution of international migrants to the world economy far exceeds their share in the world population.


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