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Reducing Fertility Rates Coercion or Reward?

Reducing Fertility Rates Coercion or Reward?. Laura Dininni Stutee Khandelwal. Global Population Growth. Fertility rates. TFR-Total Fertility Rate. Indicators associated with higher fertility. high rates of female illiteracy low female status a high percentage of illegal marriages

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Reducing Fertility Rates Coercion or Reward?

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  1. Reducing Fertility RatesCoercion or Reward? Laura Dininni Stutee Khandelwal

  2. Global Population Growth

  3. Fertility rates • TFR-Total Fertility Rate

  4. Indicators associated with higher fertility • high rates of female illiteracy • low female status • a high percentage of illegal marriages • under age 18 • modest level of contraceptive use • and high rates of infant mortality

  5. Population control policy • Incentives • Positive Incentives • rewards or penalties, tangible or intangible, to induce specific fertility behavior by altering parental choice • Serve to enlarge option. Individual has a right to deny. • Negative Incentive/Disincentives • Withdrawal/suspension of the rewards or penalties

  6. Direct Incentives • Cash payments- • to women for not having pregnancy • to men for undergoing Voluntary Surgical Contraception • Employee Benefit Package • Non Cash- • Priority to housing • Educational placement of children • Tax advantages • Rewards to Community- • Improved infrastructure

  7. Indirect Incentives • Increased Educational opportunities for women • Increased labor force opportunities • Social pressure campaigns • Lowering infant and childhood mortality • Disadvantages: • must be supplemented by direct incentives • slower than direct

  8. Disincentives • Negative Incentives • Withdrawal of maternity benefits • Limitation of services provided • Debarred from contesting local elections

  9. Effectiveness • Never used alone. • Not much success in India. • Lack of funding • Lack of government support • Success in China and Indonesia where disincentives and coercion as well • The focus on much broader issues- education (Kerela), good leadership (Indonesia), socio-economic development (Japan), decline in mortality (China) etc.

  10. Coercion • definition • Incentive and disincentive programs raise ethical and practical questions • Is it ethical • Will it work

  11. Incentives disincentives reward and coercion • Are incentives inherently coercive • Critical factors such as • socioeconomic status • Gender • Type of incentive • Means by which they are enforced • Can turn incentives into compulsory measures

  12. Generally, pop pol is most effective when public opinion supports the policy goals • Singapore • Balance between rights of people and national goals for population stabilization • Collective vs individual rights • “Governments are justified in employing measures that seek to curb population growth and in directing their residents to comply with such objectives”

  13. Gender inequality • Implications in coercive population policy • Compromises necessary to attain such population goals are often borne by women who must modify their reproductive behavior or have it modified for them • Leads to serious infractions of human rights • Internationally and domestically • Political inequality

  14. Effectiveness of coercion

  15. Conclusion

  16. Solutions-laura • Incentive and disincentive policies must: • Take into account shifts in population trends • What is goal • What is timeline • Urban vs rural focus • Gentrification of society China example • Assess impact of Gender in/equality • programs may ..projecting the image of the gfirl child as an asset to the family rather than a liability • Have correct target • Involve choice and empowerment • Increase women’s economic security

  17. Solutions-Stutee • Cultural factors - gender, religion, societal customs • Comprehensive reproductive health care-holistic approach, socio-cultural taboos, access • Strong government/leadership • Socio-cultural climate • Women’s rights

  18. Education • Delay in exposure to intercourse • Alternatives in life to early marriage • Changes people’s thinking • Problem based learning, Skits, T.V, Radio

  19. Bibliography • Minnesotans for Sustainibility. The Cairo Conference on Population and Development. August, 1994. <http://www.mnforsustain.org/mann_d_cairo_conference_on_pop_and_development.htm#Non-Coercive%20Incentives> • Weeks, John R. How To Influence Fertility: The Experience So Far (1990). November 16, 2004. http://dieoff.org/page35.htm • The Wall Street Journal. Fertility “Revolution” Lowers Birth Rates. January 24, 2003. http://www.mongabay.com/external/WSJ-Fertilty_Revolution.htm • Laigen, L. The Greatest Modern Threat to Reproductive Freedom. November 16, 2004. <http://www.fnsa.org/v1n2/liagin1.html>

  20. Questions???

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