Below-replacement fertility in east and southeast asia: Consequences and policy responses

Fourteen countries in Asia have total fertility rates at or below replacement level. This is more pronounced in China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Thailand. The implications are far-reaching and profound as they affect the age structure of the population, giving rise to population ageing, labour force shortages, increased elderly dependency ratios and feminization of the aged population. Evidence from European countries suggests that although fertility may rebound, in most countries it is highly unlikely that fertility will recover sufficiently to reach replacement level in the near future. Mortality reduction will continue to be an overriding policy goal, which would further enhance the ageing process. Therefore, the greatest challenge will be to pension systems, old-age care systems, and health systems or health insurance. This paper first examines the fertility transition in five low-fertility countries. It then discusses the policy measures that these countries have adopted in response to low fertility and population ageing. The paper concludes with the policy implications for healthcare, social care, income security and caregiving facility, and the scope for further study.     

生育率演变的生态学逻辑及人口增长的长期趋势

人口增长的长期过程一直是充满困惑与引发争论的话题,将人类复归到生态系统的普通成员,按照生态学逻辑构建一个由替代生育率内生引导、人口容量外生制约的人口增长新模型,以代替用具体社会经济因子解释短周期人口变动的传统思路,探讨生育率转变的一般模式及人口发展的长期趋势。工业革命以来,全球人口已经或正在经历着第一次、第二次生育率转变,全球生育率演变可以聚类为欧美、亚非拉、撒哈拉以南非洲和东亚四种区域模式;在计划生育政策的推动下,我国在短短的三十年内完整经历了两次生育率转变。极限替代生育率是生育率演变的长期目标,但当前已有一些国家跌破更替水平,这也许会成为各个国家的普遍经历,预示着人口容量约束的日益显性化;世界及主要国家的人口规模正在日益逼近其容量极限,并会在惯性驱动下突破容量限制,达到峰值后再以负增长方式趋近人口容量,同期的生育率也将向极限替代生育率递增复归。按趋势模拟世界和中国的可持续人口容量分别约为65亿人和12亿人。研究设计出测量人口增长惯性的新指标——人口增长惯性系数,它是生育率与实时替代生育率之比或出生率与死亡率之比,相比常用的人口惯性因子更为简便易行。     

中国妇女生育水平变动考证和未来人口发展的策略选择

1990年以来各类人口调查和相关学者的研究结果显示,目前的低生育水平的实现有外在政策强力的作用,更有中国社会经济发展内生化的作用;真实的生育水平既不是调查包括人口普查所显示的那样低(低于1.5),也不是有关部门和政府所想象的那样高。调查显示农村居民平均生育意愿不会高于2个孩子,这是生育率持续稳定的根本。众所周知,为了保证人口稳定持续的发展,应使妇女生育率保持更替水平或至少接近更替水平。从人口发展规律和人口发展与社会经济发展相适应的规律出发,结合当前我国居民生育意愿和生育水平走低的实际,我们应该抓住生育政策调整的最佳时期,调整应该在最佳时期即未来5-10年内完成。     

21世纪中国人口面临的艰难抉择──生育率与人口规模·老龄化的前瞻

总人口、老年人口规模与生育率呈正向变化以及老龄化程度与生育率呈反向变化的矛盾， 决定了低生育率导致人口数量较少但高度老龄化； 高生育率导致人口规模扩大但老龄化程度较低，造成未来生育政策调整的艰难抉择。促进人口与社会经济、资源环境的协调发展和可持续发展是未来中国发展的最主要矛盾，继续坚持低生育率政策，坚持严格控制人口数量是首要任务     

流动人口的生育意愿及其变迁——以广州市流动人口为例

根据“广州市流动人口的调查问卷”数据,采用定量分析方法,阐述了流动人口的生育意愿现状,包括意愿子女数、意愿性别偏好、意愿生育时间及其在年龄、性别、婚姻状况的差异。在此基础上,探讨流动人口生育意愿的变迁,揭示出生育意愿的变迁主要取决于与城市文明的融入程度及变迁方向。     

The Momentum of Real Population Under Linear Fertility Transition

Population momentum is the ratio of a population's ultimate size after a demographic transition to its initial size before the transition. For stable population and instantaneous drop to replacement fertility, Keyfitz found a simple formula for the momentum. Although Keyfitz's formula has been extended to cover gradual demographic transitions, the stable initial population, however, is still an obstacle to approaching reality. Using the solution of the Lotka equation with time-varying vital rates and extending it to negative values of time, exact and accurate formulae for the momentum of any initial population that undergoes a linear fertility transition are expressed. Examples using the data from the United Nations indicate that the accurate formula works well for the age structures that are far from stable such as the more and less developed regions, as well as that close to stable such as the least developed region.     

Options for Fertility Policy Transition in China

This article compares five currently debated scenarios for fertility policy transition in China, in terms of their implications for future population growth and population aging, the proportions of elderly living alone, labor force trends, pension deficits, economic costs, the marriage squeeze, and other socioeconomic outcomes. Based on these comparative analyses, the author concludes that China needs to begin a gradual modification of its fertility policy as soon as possible. He proposes a three‐stage “soft‐landing” strategy for fertility policy transition: (1) a 7‐year initial smooth transition period; (2) from approximately 2014‐15 to 2032‐35 a universal two‐child policy combined with late childbearing in both rural and urban areas; (3) after 2032‐35 all Chinese citizens would be free to choose family size and fertility timing. This strategy will enable China to have much more favorable demographic conditions and socioeconomic outcomes, as compared to keeping the current policy unchanged.     

Baby booms,busts, and population ageing in the developed world

The key challenge facing contemporary society is a process of population ageing rooted mainly in past fertility cycles. The goals of the study reported in this paper were (i) to analyse jointly the post-1930s baby boom and the baby bust that followed, (ii) to consider the specific ways this particular combination influenced the process of ageing in different societies, and (iii) to evaluate some possible implications for policy of different historical experiences. Demographic time series for 27 nations in the developed world were used. The main results confirm the importance of the boom and bust fertility cycle of the second half of the twentieth century for population ageing. Some countries will experience ageing processes driven mainly by the growth of elderly populations while others will age largely as a result of declines in working-age populations. These differences underscore the need to tailor policy priorities for specific patterns of ageing.     

中国大陆、中国台湾地区和日本人口问题之探讨及其对策

日本、中国大陆和中国台湾地区均处于低生育率水平,但各自所处发展阶段和面临的人口问题迥异,应对战略不尽相同:中国台湾地区地狭人稠,人口减少未必是坏事,应以稳定生育率为首要,鼓励适龄结婚,带动生育率回升,放宽移民政策,移入高素质人才,提升竞争力;日本总人口已经负增长,应鼓励生育,改革教育,坚持能力主义;中国大陆人口面临结构和数量双重压力,应以调整人口结构和控制人口数量并重为首要任务,提升人力素质。     

论我国人口“生育安全”

生育安全问题包括生育的能力安全、生育的过程安全、生育的健康安全和生育的保障安全。生育安全不仅关联着生育的质量,而且关联着生育的权利和健康的权利。在我国,当前环境污染威胁着生育的条件安全和能力安全;自然、社会经济因素中不安全因素威胁生育的主体安全和过程安全;滥用辅助生育技术对生育保障安全构成威胁。生育安全命题具有理论和政策价值。生育安全是人口安全的核心和基础,凸现生育制度的安全追求是新时期的新使命。测度生育安全的指标体系包括正向指标和负向指标。     

独生子女大规模进入婚育年龄对我国人口发展的影响

大规模的独生子女进入婚育期以及我国差异化的人口控制政策，必然使政策生育率上升。其后果主要表现为：一、理论上每年出生人数增加约160万。使我国人口峰值提高了约4800万；二、弱化我国人口政策的区域差异所导致的人口素质“逆淘汰”，加快人口素质的提高，同时长期偏高的出生性别比也将得到一定程度的缓和；三、城镇将出现大量的“四二一”家庭，而且家庭空巢阶段也将提前到来，空巢家庭比例快速上升。     

人口老龄化机制研究:基于生育率持续下降视角

人口老龄化现象主要通过人口转变理论解释,由于生育率下降不满足经典的人口转变理论设想,人口转变理论对人口老龄化的解释力受到挑战。从制度的角度研究社会养老制度建立以后形成的"社会养老、家庭养子"对生育率的影响,以期解释人口转变结束后生育率持续下降的原因,从生育率下降视角研究人口老龄化机制。研究发现,在"社会养老、家庭养子"制度下,养子收益减少、养子成本提高、家庭养子资源比例减少,使家庭生育率下降,生育率下降导致人口老龄化程度加深;人口老龄化程度加深提高养子成本、降低家庭养子资源比例,由于家庭缺乏养子激励,生育率进一步下降,进而导致更严重的老龄化。老龄化一旦形成,具有不断强化的机制。     

我国流动人口生育问题研究概述

在我国经济社会的高速发展影响下,流动人口数量与日俱增。流动人口中的育龄人群也在我国整体育龄人群中占较大比例．因此其生育问题受到了广泛关注。当前学界对流动人口的生育问题主要围绕其生育意愿、生育水平、生育服务管理而展开,通过研究发现流动人口的生育状况由于其居住、工作等的特殊性而呈现出一些不同于城市常住人口和农村未流动人口等的特点。而要将研究进一步引向深入,扩展地域之维、丰富实地调研资料、探析数理关系是可尝试的分析路径。     

对我国未来“内生型”极低生育率水平的预警分析

本文通过对世界“内生型”极低生育率国家和地区的生育率主要影响因素分析,采用横截面替代方法得出了在极低生育率条件下生育率影响因素的替代系数,并对我国生育意愿达到“内生型”极低生育率的时间进行了估测,为我国调整生育政策避免进入“逆马尔萨斯”陷阱的人口危机做出了预警,并结合实际对我国生育政策微调提出了相关建议。     

我国人口政策的调节时机研究

本文从研究人口抚养比入手建立人口增长的差分方程组模型,据此推算人口总量和人口抚养比的变化趋势。结果表明：人口老龄化有一个极限,不会无限制地恶化下去。同时,我国生育率控制指标的最佳调节时机至少还要再等待20年．相当长的一段时期内仍须维持现行计划生育政策不变,稳定低生育率水平,积极应对人口老龄化。     

超低生育率阶段的区域人口发展战略

随着我国人口转变的实现和完成,越来越多的地方进入了"超低生育率"发展阶段,未来时期的人口发展战略面临着何去何从的抉择。以辽宁省辽阳市为案例总结区域人口转变的阶段和特点,指出辽阳已经出现"意愿性超低生育率"现象,带来了人口发展风险问题。随着计划生育风险家庭和残缺家庭的增多,辽阳的公共财政压力已经感受到巨大挑战。人口安全要求坚守计划生育的"底线伦理",降低计划生育风险家庭和残缺家庭在整个计划生育家庭中的规模和比例。未来的区域人口安全发展战略必须考虑确立的两个基本点是"优先健全人口结构、兼顾控制人口增量",不鼓励农村一女户放弃二胎生育指标,尽快建立独生子女家庭风险防范的社会机制和独生子女困难家庭公益救助机制。     

中国人口迁移与生育率关系研究

本文利用2000年人口普查数据,考察了中国人口迁移与生育率的关系。通过比较农村本地人口、城市本地人口和流动迁移人口三个人口群体在生育率上的差异,并进行多元统计分析,结果表明,流动迁移对生育率有着非常显著影响,城市外来人口的生育率不仅显著低于农村本地人口,而且也低于城市本地人口;远期流迁人口的生育率要低于近期流迁人口的生育率。中国人口迁移与生育率的关系出现了与已有的迁移生育率理论的不一致。1990年代中国的迁移生育率发生了转变。     

Effects of population policy and economic reform on the trend in fertility in Guangdong province,China, 1975–2005

An analysis of data mainly from China's 1990 and 2000 censuses and 2005 mini-census shows how fertility decline between 1975 and 2005 in the province of Guangdong has been influenced by both fertility policy and economic and social development. Guangdong's development since 1975 has been very rapid and has attracted huge numbers of migrants from other provinces. The analysis of the province's fertility trend from 1975 shows clearly the influence of fertility policy on the trend. The analysis also shows that economic development has brought about large changes in population composition by urban/rural residence, education, occupation, and migration status, which, together with large fertility differentials by these characteristics, have contributed substantially to Guangdong's fertility decline, in large part through changes in proportions currently married.     

Completing the fertility transition in the developing world: The role of educational differences and fertility preferences

This study summarizes patterns of educational differentials in wanted and unwanted fertility at different stages of the fertility transition. The data are from Demographic and Health Surveys in 57 less developed countries. As the transition proceeds, educational differentials in wanted fertility tend to decline and differentials in unwanted fertility tend to rise. An assessment of fertility patterns in developed and less developed countries with low fertility concludes that these differentials are likely to remain substantial when less developed countries reach the end of their transitions. This conclusion implies that the educational composition of the population remains a key predictor of overall fertility in late transitional countries and that low levels of schooling can be a cause of stalling fertility.     

我国生育意愿及其影响因素研究综述：1980～2015

2016年1月1日起实施的全面二孩政策能否有效地鼓励民众的生育行为，这关乎到我国未来几十年合理调整人口结构、稳固新常态发展的成功与否。本文通过对我国1980-2015年有关生育意愿的国内外文献总结回顾，将生育意愿的内涵界定为数量、时间、性别、动机四个维度，并在此基础上结合国内外学者们的研究归纳得出影响生育意愿的五个方面因素：政策、经济、观念、教育、年龄，以期在新政策背景下展望未来，借鉴国外发展的经验，做好养老、医疗、就业、教育方面的准备措施来迎接全面二孩时代，并为有关生育意愿的进一步研究提供参考。