30.07.2015 Views

Family Planning in Asia and the Pacific - International Council on ...

Family Planning in Asia and the Pacific - International Council on ...

Family Planning in Asia and the Pacific - International Council on ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Figureslow decl<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>e to its most recently measured level of 4.4 <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g><str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> 2001-2006 period (Nati<strong>on</strong>al Statistical Office, 2006).However, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> fertility transiti<strong>on</strong> has not proceeded ata c<strong>on</strong>sistent pace s<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ce fertility first began to decl<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g><str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> early 1970s. Compared with <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> pace of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> fertilitytransiti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> less developed countries (LDCs) as a group,<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> rate of fertility decl<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> Papua New Gu<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ea has beenslow, as can be seen <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> Figure 1. Fur<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>rmore, Papua NewGu<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ea experienced a dist<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ctive slowdown <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> rate of itsfertility decl<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>e from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> period 1985-1990 to 1995-2000.For <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> 10 years centred <strong>on</strong> 1987-1997, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> country’s TFRdropped by <strong>on</strong>ly 0.33, compared with a decl<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>e of 0.79 <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g><str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> LDCs as a group. As of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> 2000-2005 period, PapuaNew Gu<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ea’s TFR was about 1.5 children per womanabove <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> TFR for all LDCs – a difference of 51 per cent.As Figure 2 shows, Papua New Gu<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ea’s reduced rate offertility decl<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> late 1980s <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> early 1990s opened agap between <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> country <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r LDCs that will probablytake a l<strong>on</strong>g time to close. The United Nati<strong>on</strong>s mediumvariant projecti<strong>on</strong>s for Papua New Gu<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ea <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> LDCssuggest that Papua New Gu<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ea would reach a TFR of 2.5about 20 years after <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r LDCs <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> that it would takeuntil 2045 before “replacement” fertility of 2.2 children perwoman was reached. Had Papua New Gu<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ea’s fertilitytransiti<strong>on</strong> not “stalled” prematurely, replacement fertilitymight have been reached much earlier, <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> impact ofpopulati<strong>on</strong> “momentum” that much less. As it is, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> UnitedNati<strong>on</strong>s medium variant populati<strong>on</strong> projecti<strong>on</strong>s suggestthat Papua New Gu<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ea’s total populati<strong>on</strong> would reach12.9 milli<strong>on</strong> by 2050, while <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> “low” projecti<strong>on</strong> based<strong>on</strong> a faster rate of fertility decl<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>e would produce a 2050populati<strong>on</strong> of 11.1 milli<strong>on</strong>, or 1.8 milli<strong>on</strong> fewer people.Research issuesThe relatively slow pace of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> fertility transiti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> PapuaNew Gu<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ea relative to LDCs as a group <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> relative too<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r <str<strong>on</strong>g>Pacific</str<strong>on</strong>g> isl<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> countries is <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> primary issue <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> needof explanati<strong>on</strong>. However, an explanati<strong>on</strong> that is aimedat be<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g complete, or at least comprehensive, is certa<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>lybey<strong>on</strong>d <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> scope of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> present paper as it would require areview of a large number of development <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>dicators <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> aneffort to l<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>k <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>se <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>dicators to a general <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ory of fertilitychange. What this paper is aimed at do<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g is to c<strong>on</strong>sider<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> specific relati<strong>on</strong>ship between fertility decl<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>e <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>use of family plann<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g, or more precisely, c<strong>on</strong>tracepti<strong>on</strong>.For example, is <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re evidence to dem<strong>on</strong>strate that <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> paceof fertility decl<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>e has been c<strong>on</strong>stra<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ed by various typesof barriers or impediments to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> use of effective forms ofc<strong>on</strong>tracepti<strong>on</strong>? Even this much reduced questi<strong>on</strong> presentsanalytical problems aris<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> difficulty of adequatelymeasur<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> dem<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> for <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> supply of familyplann<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g services. As <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> all analysis us<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> ec<strong>on</strong>omicc<strong>on</strong>cepts of “supply” <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> “dem<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g>”, supply <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> dem<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g><str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>teract <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> complex ways. An <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>crease <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> supply can createits own dem<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g>, as when <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> diffusi<strong>on</strong> of family plann<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>gservices raises knowledge <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> awareness of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> possibilityof effectively c<strong>on</strong>troll<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g fertility am<strong>on</strong>g populati<strong>on</strong>s thatpreviously had little awareness of this, hence <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>creas<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> dem<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> for it. C<strong>on</strong>versely, a belief am<strong>on</strong>g authoritiesthat <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> dem<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> for family plann<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g is low <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>refore<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>re is no po<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>t <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> supply<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g services will almost certa<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>lybe self-re<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>forc<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g, as <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> best <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>dicator of a dem<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> forfamily plann<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g is <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> actual use of it.In spite of <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>se analytical difficulties, it is possible to ga<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>some <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>dicati<strong>on</strong> of supply <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> dem<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> Papua NewFigure2 Actual <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> projected fertility change <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> Papua New Gu<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ea <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> less developed countries, 1950-2050PNGLDCs7.56.5Total Fertility Rate5.54.53.52.51950-551960-651970-751980-851990-952000-052010-15Year2020-252030-352040-452050-55Source: UNDESA (2009).349

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!