Strategies for Population Sustainability
■ Provide economic incentives for having fewer children. Possible
drawbacks would be that rewards may be given to people who already
have the number of children they want and the cost of the program.
■ Provide free education, housing subsidies, monthly subsidies, free health
care, higher pension benefits, tax incentives, or other economic incentives
to women who only have one or two children. Higher education for
women usually results in having children later in life. Drawbacks include
the fact that it may not work, as children may be needed for labor either
on farms or in the city to provide extra income for the family, and the cost
of the program.
■ Provide more job and empowerment opportunities for women. The low
status of women is a major problem in overpopulation. Higher family
incomes usually results in having fewer children. A drawback may be
resentment by men.
■ Provide government family-planning services. Examples include
education, birth control, sterilization, abortion, and raising the age for
marriage. Drawbacks may include cultural and social issues, confusion as
to alternatives should a child die, and interference with religious
teachings.
■ Increase economic development in developing countries through free
trade and private investment coupled with tax incentives.
■ Improve prenatal and infant health care. Women would not need to have
more children if the ones they had survived.Case Studies
Both China and India have instituted national policies to decrease their growing
populations.
CHINA
Between 1972 and 2000, China dramatically reduced its crude birth rate (the
TFR dropped from 5.7 to 1.8) by adopting the “One-Child Rule.” Methods used
to achieve this goal included incentives such as extra food, larger pensions,
better housing, free school tuition, free medical care, and salary bonuses. A
mobile program that reached both urban and rural areas of China, offering family
planning services including sterilization, was also implemented. However, an
unforeseen consequence was that with the advent of ultrasounds, many families