Estimating optimal expenditures on family planning in developing economies

This paper develops an analytical model of the effect of family planningexpenditures on per capita income. The perspective is that of constrained optimization: a predetermined level of overall development resources is to be allocated to family planning programs and alternative uses in the form of expansion of the generalized capital stock (plant and machinery, education and training, and social infrastructure). The principal functions of the model are power forms, so that an explicit solution may be obtained for the optimal ratio of family planning expenditures to overall development resources. Important insights into the nature of this policy question are derived from consideration of the formula. In addition, tentative numerical estimates of the optimal ratio are presented for several developing economies. These estimates suggest that quite a substantial proportion of overall development resources should be allocated to family planning programs in most developing nations. The paper is concluded with a brief evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of the optimization approach to population policy issues.     

The need for family planning

The purpose of this paper is to examine the evidence on the need for family planning. The available evidence on current levels of unmet need for contraceptives, fertility preferences, and the non-contraceptive benefits of family planning is reviewed. I argue that expansion of family planning programs is still needed. These programs provide couples with tools to reach their desired family size; can significantly impact maternal and child mortality by decreasing fertility and optimizing child spacing; and by decreasing fertility, slow population growth. It is therefore imperative to continue to expand the provision of family planning services.     

我国少数民族人口与计划生育政策探讨

本文介绍了我国少数民族人口发展和计划生育工作的基本情况,阐述了在民族地区实行计划生育是少数民族自身繁荣进步的需要,以及在实行计划生育过程中应注意的一些问题。     

Measurement of the quality of family planning services

The quality of health services is a subject of increasing interest to health care providers and organizations responsible for financing and promoting health services. The importance of the client's perspective (and by inference, the perspective of potential clients, as well) is now well established, but efforts to define and measure quality have thus far been limited to the perspective of experts even when the experts claim to speak for the clients. In this paper we utilize family planning programs to explore issues of the quality of health services. We propose that a better understanding of the view of quality actually held by family planning program clients will clarify the influence of quality on the use of services, a clarity that has not been possible by looking at quality only as defined by providers, managers or experts. We review the literature on quality of services and identify the gaps in research that must be filled if a better understanding of what quality is and how it relates to service outcomes is to be obtained. A first step must be the research required to develop a set of measures of quality that reflects the multi-dimensional nature of quality, includes the clients' view of services in the definition of quality, and incorporates methodologies required to ascertain the true view of clients. Finally, we suggest that dimensions of quality identified as important for clients as a group will be more predictive of use of services than dimensions identified as important to providers.     

颁布、施行人口与计划生育法对人口与计划生育工作的挑战

颁布、施行人口与计生法为加强人口与计生工作提供了法律保障 ,无疑是一件大好事。但是 ,特殊的国情决定了实施人口与计生法会遇到许多困难和问题 ,对人口与计生工作的思路、方法 ,对人口与计生工作的任务、要求 ,对人口与计生工作的作风、工作效率 ,等等 ,都是一种挑战。因此 ,我们必须采取有力措施 ,积极应对这种挑战 ,切实搞好依法管理 ,依法实行计划生育     

Assessing the impact of a family planning nurse training program in Egypt

In 1991 the Egyptian Ministry of Health introduced a new training program for family planning nurses. The training program stressed the development of nurses' counseling skills. As part of the Operations Research Program, sponsored by Family Health International in collaboration with the Egypt National Family Planning Board, managerial staff from family planning agencies designed and implemented a study to evaluate the impact of the new training program. The study objective was to assess the impact of nurse training on nurse performance in the clinic and on clients' family planning knowledge, attitudes and contraceptive use. The study was designed to provide usable information to family planning managers in the field within a time period of less than one year. The study results indicate that there is an association between improved family planning training for nurses and positive changes in family planning knowledge, attitudes and behavior among women attending MoH clinics in this study. The greatest relative change occurred in knowledge. Women in the experimental group, relative to the control group, displayed increased knowledge about contraceptives, particularly the pill and the IUD. Attitudinal change was less pronounced. Favorable attitudes toward oral contraceptives and condoms became more prevalent, and reports of husband-wife communication about family planning also increased. Finally, although contraceptive use was already high prior to the nurse training, IUD use increased significantly among women in one governorate.     

Using operations research to guide family planning program development and policy formulation in sub-Saharan Africa

The process by which a population policy and family planning program evolve in a given country is influenced by many factors that combine to make each country's experience unique. One of the most influential factors among these is the role played by external technical assistance, normally provided through donor-supported mechanisms. One donor-supported mechanism that seeks to guide the operational policy and program development process is technical assistance through operations research. Many questions are raised during the design of family planning programs that are often best answered with reference to empirical evidence collected through applied, or operations research (OR). This paper provides a review of the three main OR approaches currently being used in sub-Saharan Africa: diagnostic or needs assessment studies; experimental pilot studies; and intensive technical assistance for problem-solving and institutional development. The extent to which these OR approaches can play a role in family planning program development to improve and expand service delivery activities is discussed, and examples where these approaches have been used are given.     

人口素质的家庭影响因素分析

家庭是个体社会化的重要场所。家庭背景、家庭结构、家庭关系以及家庭教育等方面对人口素质有着不容忽视的影响 ,在当前家庭发生巨大变革的背景下 ,家庭变迁与人口素质呈动态关系 ,优化家庭因素对提高人口素质具有实践意义。     

我国农村计划生育利益导向机制的构建——基于子女成本和效用的分析

本文从计划生育政策下我国农村子女效用角度出发,分析了农村计划生育利益导向机制的补偿、激励、导向、保障功能等功能,提出建立利益导向机制的3个角度,即针对计生家庭的父母、子女和整个家庭3部分实施的优惠性的利益机制,指出利益导向机制的优惠措施要具有易获得性、体现地区差异性,并强调利益导向机制要同生育文化一同建设、相互促进。     

A theoretical framework of collective action for the evaluation of family planning programs

Typically, a family planning program seeks to alter individuals' fertility behavior. The very necessity for the existence of a family planning program presumes that individuals' fertility expectations and behavior are not yet consistent with the objectives of the program. Therefore, some individuals may choose not to cooperate. In this article I establish a theoretical framework for the evaluation of family planning programs by synthesizing the literature on the theory of collective action. Because of the characteristics of collective action — indivisibility and externality — noncooperation (free riding) is bound to occur. Faced with the problem of free riding, a good family planning program should ideally apply selective incentives, localize the costs and benefits, and invest in social capital. The relations among these three factors, cooperation, and fertility are also spelled out.An earlier version of this article was presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Washington, DC, 11–15 August 1990.     

对中国县区级计生机构优质服务中社会性别公平程度的探索性研究——基于对M县计划生育管理与服务机构的调查

为探索中国县区级计划生育/生殖健康机构在优质服务体现社会性别公平的程度,对M优质服务项目县的计划生育管理和服务机构进行了2次共9组典型组专题讨论调查。结果表明,在优质服务目标群体的权益保障和责任分担方面,服务领域明显拓宽,社会性别公平程度有了一定改善。但是由于传统计划生育管理模式与服务观念的影响,计生机构主要关注已婚育龄妇女的权益和风险,未婚、更年期女性和男性的生殖健康服务仍然存在欠缺。在两性共同责任分担方面,男性分担避孕生育责任的趋势开始出现,但现有服务资源与规范仍制约着男性参与的程度。     

Family income at the bottom and at the top: Income sources and family characteristics

Attention has recently been focused on wealth as a source of long-term economic security and on wealth ownership as a crucial aspect of the racial economic divisions in the United States. This literature, however has been concerned primarily with the wealth gap between poor and middle-class families, and between the white and black middle class. In this paper, we investigate the incomes of families at the top and bottom of the family income distribution. We examine the sources of income and the demographic characteristics of these high-income and low-income families using family level data from the 1988 to 2003 Current Population Surveys.     

充分利用社会资源 创建新的工作机制 把计划生育工作建立在人们乐于接受的基础上

本文探索利用社会资源,切出计划生育的一部分工作,纳入有关部门,并充分协调、发挥这些部门优势,以建立新的计划生育工作机制,以人为本,解决好群众在生活、医疗、养老等方面存在的实际问题,改善人们对计划生育的可接受性,有利于计划生育的进一步发展。     

人口与计划生育目标管理责任制过程评价式考核体系初探

随着人口与计划生育工作综合改革的不断深入,现行人口与计划生育目标管理责任制考核模式的弊端逐渐显现出来,本文综合运用政府绩效管理、业务流程重组、激励与沟通等理论和实证分析方法,对广东省人口与计划生育目标管理责任制考核模式进行探索,从理念构建、流程构建和组织构建等三个层次,构建责任制过程评价式考核的新体系,并提出了具体政策建议.     

关于构建社会主义和谐社会与人口政策拓展的战略思考

随着社会、经济的不断发展和变迁,人口政策也应随着人口安全形势的变化、社会结构的转型和社会政策的调整而拓展。在构建社会主义和谐社会的进程中,拓展我国的人口政策,深化人口和计划生育改革具有重要意义。要以促进人的全面发展为出发点和立足点,制定符合我国国情的人口政策。     

顺德市人口、资源、环境与可持续发展

本文模拟了顺德市在不实行计划生育政策的条件下的人口增长情况 ,结果发现由于计划生育 ,在 1971- 1998年间 ,顺德市少生了 5 0多万人口 ,从而使顺德市的人口、资源、环境在经济高速发展的情况下仍能基本协调。文章也分析了顺德市目前的人口、资源与环境可持续发展的状况和问题 ,并提出了一些建议     

Demographic pressure,economic development,and social engineering: An assessment of fertility declines in the second half of the twentieth century

Population Research and Policy Review - Concerns over the prospects of explosive demographic growth led to concerted efforts to engineer fertility reductions in the developing world, while skeptics...     

Population and housing

The analysis described here was carried out in response to a political crisis in Australia. In 1994, a Member of Parliament who opposed the use of foreign aid funds for family planning programs blocked the passage of the national budget. The impasse was resolved through a compromise. The use of foreign assistance for population activities was frozen pending an independent inquiry into the impact of population on economic development. A team of nine researchers prepared background papers on population and economic development, health, education, food supply, housing, poverty, the environment, family planning, and human rights. The overall conclusion of the inquiry was that slower population growth will yield more rapid development in most countries, especially in relatively poor, agricultural nations. The purpose of this contribution to the inquiry was to assess how population growth was affecting the housing sector and, in turn, economic development. Among other questions, does population growth increase the demand for residential land, housing, and urban infrastructure? Demographic methods were critical to answering the questions, especially assessing the impact of population growth on the demand for housing.     

计划生育培训者面临的挑战机遇和发展

学习化社会的到来 ,计划生育的新任务给计划生育培训者提出了新的要求 ,带来了新的挑战 ,同时也创造了发展的机遇。这就要求计划生育培训者从行业知识和业务手段两方面来充实自己 ,以适应新的形势和工作任务     

关于建立计划生育养老保障机制的思考

我国第一、二代独生子女父母开始步入中老年,计划生育家庭面临养老难题,建立计划生育养老保障机制也呈现的日益重要。本文结合建立计划生育养老保障机制的实践经验,分析了建立养老机制的制约因素,同时就完善计划生育养老机制提出了建议。