Family planning programmes for the next century

Family planning programmes arose as a new form of state intervention in the 1960s. In many countries, particularly in Asia, the rationale was an explicit demographic one of reducing fertility and bringing down rates of population growth. Since 1960, fertility in developing countries has fallen from an average of 6.5 births per women to 3.3 births. In much of Asia and Latin America, childbearing is approaching replacement level of 2.0 births per women; fertility remains much higher in many of the Arab States and in sub-Saharan Africa, though there are unmistakable signs of change. Within a decade or so, the transition to smaller families will probably be universal. One of the main lessons is that, despite many earlier commentators’ fears, poverty, ‘culture’ or illiteracy (see Jefferys: "The role of female schooling") were not insurmountable obstacles to fertility decline.

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Also in this issue:

The role of female schooling

Integrating services

Quality and method choice

Interventions with young people

The public/private mix