Population policies are a form of governmental control, directed towards improving general quality of life amongst other things.
Governments of LEDCs have realised the serious implications of current growth rates on the future size and structure of their population and thus, in many cases, have turned to Population policies in order to achieve a few major objectives which will in turn stimulate development. These are mainly to; influence growth rates, regulate fertility, lower mortality and alter patterns of internal migration thus changing population distribution.
The balance of pressure is now complicated by this widespread adoption of government policy. These are deliberate measures enforced by the state to influence growth rates and size in the interest of development aims
Outline of Chinas population policy:
Chinese leaders insisted that the population was not too large, but growing too quickly to permit marked improvements in living standards. China is the largest nation with a population of 1.2 billion people which is 21.5% of the worlds population. in the space of 40 years, between 1955 and 1995, the population increased by more than 50 percent. Chinas population grew by more than 24 million a year. This huge number has lead to increased pressures on natural resources, food, housing, education, employment and a variety of other services. For this reason, during the early SOs the government introduced a family planning program. This was a national one child policy for urban families and two child policy for rural couples. The official penalties instated by the government to those who did not stick with the policy included increased housing, schooling and medical costs plus the abolition of any kind of social be sefit~S~T~se people wo~ld also be~oeie~jr tortured in many ways. The birth ra~e,,~was~wevEr halved.6Despite this, recent booms in the economy in certain areas (mainly on the coast) has resulted in the total failure of the policies as many wealthy families no longer fear the official penalties.
Outline of Taiwans population policy
In this case mortality is relatively low and age structures are youthful. Economic development and social change as well as effective organisation to provide family planning information and services and general desire for small families all contribute to the success.
Taiwans policy was launched in the early 70s and relied on massive and imaginative publicity and community involvement. It was essentially a community program involving non official personnel. The policy was co ordinated by many people located in Bangkok. Villagers, often midwives, distributed the contraceptives, consisting mainly of the pill. These distributors would also give advice on family planning and other social ~ity matters. s
This basic programme reduced fertility drastically. Between 19~5 and 1970 Taiwans birth rate fell from 45.3 pr 1000 to 28.1.
Economic consequences:
It is believed that the declining in fertility over the past three decades is a major contributor to sustained economic growth among many LEDCs. Various statistical economic evidence suggests that shifts to slow~er population growth and smaller family sizes has played a key role in the creation of an educated workforce, the accumulation of household and governmental savings, the rise in wages and the spectacular growth of investments in manufacturing technology and industry.
A shift to smaller families produced three important demographic changes: ~ Slower growth in the number of school-age children
a A lower ratio of dependants to working adults and ~ A smaller growth in the labour force.
These three effects linked with an enterprising business sector, wise public investment and a good education system was enough, in the case of South Korea, to create an educated workforce, high wages and a capital intensive industrial sector now characterised by the Asian Tigres.
The economic effect of S. Koreas population policies was evident simply in the statistical analysis of its savings .With fewer children, households placed more of their earnings in savings. Between 1960 and 1995 there was a 1.8 decrease in the ratio between working adults and children. This in tum reduced the financial burden on parents and thus increased their disposable income, obviously leading to an increase in quality of life.
As the exponential growth of the labour force was slowed, both wages and investment rose. These sharp rises continued economic development and the demand for labour increased. This had a very positive economic effect on the population and unemployment decreased as did govemment expenditure. With a now more wealthy population the ability to successfully sustain a relatively high standard of life was increased. Food was affordable and population reductions, reduced excess demand thus prices were lower. The increased disposable incomes allowed people to spend on improving hygiene, health care and other basic amenities.
Also, the changing in the role of the women, meant that the labour force was now equipped with a larger scope of personnel with varieties of different skills.
The social effects of population policies can be best illustrated by reviewing the profound effect they had on the Chinese population. The one child policies instated by the Chinese authorities in 1981 was seen by many to be unfair and inhumane. Many families felt cheated and wrong done by their government.
The policies harsh implications and strict ruling gave the population an even greater sense of being dictated and the simple idea of being told how many children could be born outraged many.
Also, the sheer harshness of treatment that many women received, over such a sentimental subject, was totally unnecessary; women were incarcerated until they agreed to abortion, sterilisation and abortion without consent occurred as
well as the crushing of skulls of infants with forceps during delivery. Perhaps most disturbing was the injecting of iodine or formaldehyde into the soft spots of infants heads and cutting food supplies and electricity from uncooperative families. Westerners can only be astonished at the thought that only lucky women could bare children after their applications had been accepted by local comities.
Although the population policies were met with much harsh social criticism, little was done by the public, as the stem cultures they follow and the communist government they were under did not permit direct action.
Despite this, much of the population was in favour of the policies. A growing population of career women felt little towards the measures and many were in favour as believed the govemments claim that there would be famine without one child policies. A9os.c'~~
Most rural women benefited from the policies and ~sp~i~e the economic benefits of less financial burdens, they found that they had more energy for other pursuits. This brought about social unity in support of the govemments actions.
Other social effects, mainly the improvement in quality of life, stem directly from the economic and environmental implications which occur as a result of the population control.
Political effects in the case of china were not significant. The Communist nature of the their regime gave the government total power and little could be done to stop them. Despite quiet unpopularity and overseas criticism, public relations were not greatly effected and the government ran their course. Most of the political consequences concerned the careful planning of the new population structures. There were many objectives to be met and this required skilful strategic planning. Unfortunately for the Chinese administration, the policies were not as effective as planned. This meant that the objectives could not be met. The population growth was beyond the control of the government and the prediction that 120mi1 more Chinese than planned would occur was disheartening. Inevitably the countries crisis would worsen where one fifth of the worlds population lives off only five percent of its arable land. These realisations forced the political situation to change and China to rectify the evident failure of its one child policy.
Much attention was as a result guided towards continuing the fertility control and regulating the internal migrations that occur.
Environmental consequences of population policies in China were widespread although subtle. The sustained population now could:oQerate in a more space effective manor utilising areas more effectively. Slowly, the overcrowding epidemic was partly resolved, relieving much pressure on local habitats. The problems concerning shanty towns and the lack of living space became lessened as there was less demand for space, especially in the regions and cities were the policies had been most successful.
The increasing pressures on agricultural intensification to provide more food for an undernourished population were slowed thus reducing the need to utilise all possible land for farming. This again created much needed space, although small, for other land uses such as the promotion of manufacturing Industries.
A now sustained population could benefit from better quality sewage and refuse disposal as less was generated. A more comfortable society emerged, less prone to quick spreading diseases
The simple relief given to the environment meant that natural recourses were less in demand and together with efficient management by the government, this enabled Chinas new environment to work more effectively than before. ~o?J~q,l~~
Finally it can be assumed that ~r policies can influence~birth rates, but to varying extents. Success is dependent on the type of programme used and types of people it is carried out on.
Governments of the developing world are increasingly taking action to lower birth rates so that now over 80 percent of the people of the developing world live in countries with policies to influence birth rates. By the year 2000 birth rates may be substantially lower in many countries from the developing world, even to the extent of a crude rate of 20 pr thousand or lower. Even so~taking all of this into coconut,the developing world will experience massive population increases over the next 30 years.