Title: Are the economic consequences of population growth a sound basis for population policy?
Abstract: The author examines whether the effects of fertility decisions are such as to justify policies which go beyond assisting couples in reaching their childbearing goals. Research findings on the impact of population growth on per capita income and resources are reviewed, and such growth is found to be adverse only in poor, agrarian countries, although evidence remains weak. Nevertheless, it is argued that aggregate relations do not provide appropriate policy guidance. Population policy should be grounded in welfare economics--that is, based on whether the sum of individual welfare gains exceeds the sum of individual welfare losses. On the basis of an examination of the economic effects of the household's fertility on other families, it was found that the net balance of external effects was not likely to be quantitatively large. Population growth would, however, tend to increase income inequality among households. Policies to reduce fertility would, however, improve the welfare for children in the family whose fertility is reduced. Public policy is generally based on the assumption that parents act in the best interests of their children. The paper concludes that on the basis of available evidence and the tenets of welfare economics, voluntary family planning programs appear to be well justified. The programs benefit the users and their children, and they are also likely to reduce income inequalities and poverty levels by raising wages relative to rates of return to other factors of production. They cannot make a poor country rich, but they can help make it less poor and are of special benefit to the poorest classes in poor countries.
Publication Year: 1987
Publication Date: 1987-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['pubmed']
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Cited By Count: 14
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