Population and employment in China]

The unequal distribution of farmlands in rural areas and the extremely low productivity in the cities were the fundamental causes of unemployment and population problems in old China. Tremendous progress was made after 1949. The serious economic disturbances caused by Lin-piao and the "Gang of Four" caused great unemployment again. The slow development of China's productivity, poor business management, the involvement of women in social activities, the morality rate decrease, and the population growth rate increase are the main reasons for China's unemployment problem. The fundamental solution is to respect the objective laws of nature and economics and to develop social productivity. In the country we should implement the total development of agricultue, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery. In towns and cities service occupations and handicraft industries should be developed, education and humanities need to be improved, and transportation, communications, and many other industries are still backward. There is high potential for development and vast opportunities for additional labor. We should constantly cultivate our high quality workforce to meet the demand of modernization. Population control is important because the higher the population growth rate the slower the accumulation of wealth. Instead of being a producer for the society the additional labor can be a burden. The vital factor in achieving the "Four Modernizations" is not the quantity of labor but the increase in productivity.     

Some fundamental problems concerning the relationship between population growth and economic development]

The population growth rate is closely related to the quality of economic life, available funds for individual and social consumption, national income to be used for reproduction, and the labor employment situation. Since liberation, socialism has not been able to show its superiority, mainly because of China's large population figure, low economic productivity, low national income, and poor management in the relationship between consumption and accumulation. In order to solve these problems, we need to adequately control the pace of the population growth and match the rate of population growth with the pace of economic development. A way to increase national income is through saving and avoiding unnecessary waste. Social expenditures on education, culture, science, health and medical care, social welfare, and investment in the promotion of people's wisdom should all be increased. Meanwhile, the living standard of the people needs to be raised, and capital accumulation should also be managed so that funds will be available for industrial and economic enterprises. Existing inefficient production enterprises should be properly reorganized so that full employment may be achieved. In this way, the national economy will have more prosperity, and the people will benefit more from the Socialist policy.     

Further discussion of the quantitative limitation of population growth and planned adjustment]

The problem of the quantitative limitation of population growth is related to the development of economic and social productivity. Under a Socialist system, the reproduction of people themselves may follow a projected plan, in order that population growth may match economic growth, the quality of the population may be promoted, and sufficient employment will be possible for the entire labor force. The problem of the quantitative limitation of population growth, however, still exists. In the early stage of social development under Socialism, a quantitative limitation of population growth and planned adjustment were necessary in order to provide enough basic needs for daily livelihood and employment. In the later stage of social development, a quantitative limitation of the population growth and planned adjustment are still needed for the purpose of promoting population quality and ensuring the entire development of the people. Under a socialist system, excessive labor productivity will not produce pressure on the population; instead, it will provide new content for the planned adjustment of people's production and reproduction. From here, the capability of dealing with the problem of the newly increased population will be strengthened, and also the capability of working out a planned adjustment between the two productions will be enhanced.     

The population problems in the countryside of China from the viewpoint of ecological economy]

There is a very close relationship between the population and the economy. The economy is the foundation for the existence and development of the population. Different socioeconomic patterns will determine population rules and population development, they have a strong influence on the social economy and the development of the entire society, and they may control the pace of social and economic development. In the last 30 years, excessive population growth has caused a great many difficulties for Socialist construction, overburdened agriculture, and created an imbalance in agricultural ecology. In order to understand the relationship between the development of the agricultural population and agricultural production, we have to understand to dominant position held by people in an agricultural ecology system. People have to control their own reproduction and match it with the productivity of the agricultural ecology system. Unrestrained population growth in the countryside is the main reason for an imbalance in China's agricultural ecology. Urgent action is needed to control the population growth in the rural areas, to fully utilized the available labor force, to promote the level of agricultural productivity, and to provide more employment opportunities. The final goal is to match China's huge agricultural human resources with its rich resources. investment should be encouraged to increase the wisdom and quality of the agricultural population. Both the quality and quantity of the agricultural labor force should also match development of agricultural productivity. In this way, a normal condition of agricultural ecology may be maintained.     

A tentative discussion on the reproduction of population in China]

Population reproduction is a physiological phenomenon necessary to continue the human race, replacing the older generation with a new one. Population reproduction is also closely related to material production. Both are mutually restricted and supportive of each other. Population reproduction can be divided into 2 types: 1) short life span and rapid generation replacement or high birth rate and high mortality rate, and 2) long life span and slow generation replacement or low birth rate and low mortality rate. Since 1949 China has significantly reduced the mortality rate because of the improvement of our health system and working conditions and the increased living standard. The birth rate, however, still remains high because we are a developing country and our levels of education, science, and technology are quite low. This intermediate stage of low mortality rate but high birth rate also existed in most developed countries for several decades. China's large population and high population growth rate severely inhibit the development of social production and the achievement of the "Four Modernizations." The only way to resolve this contradiction of population reproduction and development of productivity is to control the population growth. Family planning and advocation of 1 child per couple are important strategic tasks in realizing the "Four Modernizations."     

贵州高原少数民族传统生育文化生成的地理背景——从地理环境与文化生成的角度阐述

由于贵州地理环境的特殊性,使民族传统生育文化积淀很深,影响和支配着人们的生育意愿和行为规范,导致了少数民族人口出现增长较快、生育水平偏高、早婚早育等问题,给贵州以及民族地区经济社会发展和生态环境带来较大压力。本文结合贵州高原地理环境的特征,从地理环境与文化生成的角度对少数民族传统生育文化的形成的地理因素进行初步探讨。     

General situation and characteristics of the population of the Yemen Arab Republic]

The Yemen Arab Republic conducted a national census on February 1, 1975 and collected accurate and useful information for population research. Such information can be used to understand various factors in this country's development process and to set up a longterm plan for the country's economic development. According to this census, the total population of the country was 4,705,337. About 54.4% of its population was under the age of 16, and the average age for the population was 16. This young age population structure shows that the number of people who need employment is high, and the pressure on social and economic development is strong. Because of a poor living standard and backward health care, the birthrate and death rate have remained very high, and economic growth has been very slow. Because of the poor geographical condition, the distribution of population in the country is rather scattered. Every residential area has an average population of less than 83 persons, and this is a great obstacle in the country's socioeconomic development. The cultural level and education remain very backward, and the illiteracy rate is high. The illiteracy rate among women is 97.6%. Most women do not participate in social labor. In the labor market, the percentage of underage workers is extremely high. Many young children have to work to support themselves because of the backward economy and poor living conditions. All these are obstacles to this country's economic development.     

Change of population policy and the population situation in China]

A correct population policy is very crucial to the solution of the population problem, economic development, and social progress. The real situation in China now is a large population, a high rate of population growth, and low level of productivity. Facing this situation, China's population policy should include control of population growth in quantity, a promotion of population quality, and a match between population growth and social and economic development for the final realization of the Four Modernizations. In recent years, under the leadership of the National Committee on Family Planning, together with cooperation from various offices at the local level, a great change has taken place in China's population situation. The fertility rate has declined gradually, and late marriage, delayed births, and a reduced number of births have also become popular. A change in the age structure of the population has also slowed the pace of population growth. A reduction in the ratio of women of childbearing age is also helpful in the control of population growth, and the natural growth rate for the population has declined. This change shows that family planning is working in China and great results have been achieved. To come closer to the national goal of population control, practical work should be focused on rural areas. The rural population constitutes about 80% of total population and the fertility rate in rural areas is much higher than that of the cities. If population control can be achieved in the rural areas, the overall goal of population control for the country can then be achieved more easily.     

The integration and coordination of strategies for population growth and economic development]

Strategies on population growth are the guiding principles for population reproduction and activity. A strategy for economic development is the fundamental policy directing all the economic activities of the nation. These 2 strategies are closely related and support each other. They share some common grounds: 1) with a large population and a high percentage of the population being peasant, the labor productivity remains rather low, and population pressure on the economy is intense; 2) when a country has large territory and rich natural resources, the average arable land for each individual is still not much, and some available resources for each individual are also limited; and 3) the distribution of the population is out of balance. The areas with a higher population density receive more pressure on their economy. This situation explains the need to improve the population distribution. Labor resources should match reasonable with natural resources in order to reduce the pressure on areas with a high population density. Because of the labor's low level professional skill and poor management, modernized constructions have met with serious troubles. Moreover, the traditional view on population and population growth also needs correction. In order to integrate and coordinate these 2 strategies, one needs to understand correctly the connection between the two, and also understand the effects of the economy on the population. In the 2nd step, we need to pay attention to how to control the size of population and improve quality in order to match modernized production patterns. The balance between the two should be achieved with constant efforts. In population growth strategy, efforts are needed to limit quantity, improve quality, adjust the population structure, and redesign the geographical distribution of the population. In the economic development strategy, efforts are needed to promote economic effectiveness, a balanced development and a sustained growth for the national economy, in order to increase industrial and agricultural production and provide more income for each individual.     

高原山区人口分布特征及其主要影响因素——基于毕节地区的Panel Data计量模型分析

本文基于1987～2007年毕节地区八个县市经济、社会和资源环境方面的面板数据,考察了资源环境、经济水平和社会发展等因素对毕节人口分布变动的影响。研究发现,毕节各县市的人口总量和人口密度稳步增加,呈现协同式的增长态势,但各县市之间增长速度快慢不一,显示了区域间的差异;自然环境因素对人口地域分布变动的影响日趋减弱,但是减小的幅度并不大,说明了自然环境因素对人口分布变动的影响是根深蒂固的;经济水平和社会发展因素对人口密度变动的影响越来越大,其中尤以人均GDP和医疗条件变量更为显著;就人口密度的动态变化影响而言,除了受资源环境、社会经济发展因素的共同影响之外,毕节各个县市还表现出其个体显著差异的特征。     

西部开发中的人口问题研究

20 0 0年初 ,中国政府宣布 ,实施西部大开发战略。人口是社会经济发展的主体 ,加强对西部人口问题的研究 ,具有重要的理论和实践意义。控制人口增长是西部开发的基础 ,西部大开发不需要伴随人口数量的大幅度增长 ,相反要有效控制人口增长 ,要提高人口素质和调整人口结构 ;开发人口资源 ,是西部大开发的关键。人力资源是第一资源 ,人力资源可以改变自然资源 ,促进资本形成 ,推动技术创新 ;走可持续发展之路是西部大开发的目标。西部开发 ,不是盲目、无序、短期和掠夺式的开发 ,选择的目的是人口、资源、环境、经济、社会相互协调 ,可持续发展。     

A summary of the fecundity for the Zang nationality in the Muli region]

The Zang nationality in the Muli region is a major branch of the Tibetan people now living in Sichuan Province. Before 1949, the social economy in the local area was rather backward, public health was poor, the infant mortality rate was high as 50% and the overall population growth was slow. Since 1949, because of changes that have taken place in the social and economic system, the development of the population has also changed on a large scale. According to a recent survey, numerous households are still trying to change their poor financial condition through a population increase. Conversely, there are also some households with a better financial situation who prefer not to have too many children. In addition, fecundity also differs between women with some education and those who are illiterate, and the social impact on fecundity is very obvious. The influence from traditional concepts and psychological factors is also strong. At the present time, the national ploicy of China is for family planning and birth control to prevent an unlimited population growth. Ideological education and propaganda are needed to alter the people's traditional outdated concept of birth so that the common goal of controlling population growth may be achieved.     

Giving the population component its proper position]

In the discussion of the population component and its relationship to social development, we have to note the close relationship between material reproduction and the reproduction of human beings themselves. The unity of these reproductions is a necessary condition for social existence and development. In the past, whenever there was a problem of overpopulation, the tragedy of wiping out large numbers of the population also took place. This kind of tragedy eventually solved the problem of overpopulation and brought back a normal condition for economic development. A cycle like this happened continuously in the past. Under a socialist system today, the situation has been very different. The method includes a conscious adjustment and planned birth control in order to curb the speed of the population growth. Generally speaking, production patterns determine the development of the population growth. Under a certain production pattern, the development of the population reproduction is also dominated by the consumption pattern. A change in the consumption pattern will definitely have a great impact on the birthrate. A comprehensive plan is needed for population growth, and population control should match economic development. In a longterm plan, the population growth plan should be based upon a strategy for economic development and the changes which took place in the process of population reproduction. In short-term plan, practical measures aare needed to control the population growth in order to achieve harmony between the population and the economy.     

Policy review: thoughts on addressing population and climate change in a just and ethical manner

Many believe that linking population growth to the issue of climate change will help to place family planning back into the political realm as an urgent matter of national and environmental security. Others worry, however, that focusing on the environmental impacts of demographic change places at risk the hard-fought and long-developed global consensus that individual rights and empowerment are what matters most in fostering sustainable development and stabilizing population growth. This paper focuses on United States population policy. It presents a brief historical background and summarizes the state of scientific evidence regarding the impacts of population growth on climate change. It then analyzes some of the underlying ethical issues involved in advancing an advocacy argument around increasing family planning as a way to slow population growth and mitigating climate change. Finally, it recommends a way in which advocates can frame the connections between population growth and climate change in a just and ethical manner.     

Feeding a growing world

Technology allows for the increased production of food to meet the demands of a rapidly growing population. However, in poor countries, technology may not be economically or environmentally affordable. The balance between food supply and population growth will depend upon government's ability to design and enforce policies and programs to deal with increased population, poverty, and environmental degradation. Approaches will be specific to a country's needs. In Bangladesh, food aid will be needed. In Zaire, political reform will be required. Many countries will have to shift from investments in war to social development. Three kinds of countries will experience difficulty in feeding their populations: 1) countries with little or no reserves of fertile land or water and insufficient funds for food imports; 2) countries that have sufficient reserves of land and water but suffer from government policy failures and neglect of agriculture; and countries with political instability and civil war, which invariably are linked with famine and drought. The future prospects will be a slow increase in dietary intake in most regions, fluctuations in food availability and prices, increased crop yields and land under cultivation, and slower expansion of agricultural lands due to environmental constraints. Pessimists have predicted increased environmental costs of food production due to soil erosion, pesticide contamination of soil and water, loss of species, and fertilizer run-off. Optimists have argued that new lands can be brought under cultivation and investments in agricultural research can help to increase food productivity. As Population Council vice president in the Research Division, John Bongaarts has reiterated that a positive outcome is more likely if population growth can be stopped.     

Population issues and social indicators of well-being

Relating demographers' measures of various population characteristics (size, growth/decline, density, age/sex structures, migration, et cetera) to measures of well-being recently developed within the social indicators movement promises to provide new knowledge about the linkage of population and well-being that can enhance decision making about important population issues. A conceptual schema is presented that suggests specific relationships to examine at various levels of aggregation, that helps to classify research already done in this area, and that helps to identify "holes" in the knowledge base. Some special methodological features of research in this area suggest considerable time and care will be required to produce dependable new knowledge. These include: (a) the inherent multilevel nature of the relationships (involving properties of individuals and collectivities); (b) the slow rate at which population characteristics change; (c) the absence of much good well-being data from the past; and (d) the limited nature of the collectivities for which population data are available.     

Economic development with limited supplies of family labor: Chinese peasant families in balancing demographic and economic requisites

Family planning (FP) in rural China, particularly the ramifications of the 1-child policy, has profound implications and ramifications for family-centered social and economic life in addition to demographic control. Under a constitutionally endorsed policy of strict birth control, favorable economic opportunities coexisted with the problem of familial labor shortages. Recent reform policies have led to a more relaxed FP environment. The Chinese state is in a dilemma between the need to allow peasant's autonomy in determining the familial work situation and the population pressure on the limited cultivated land. The Chinese experience of rural reform is examined in terms of the complex relationship between population change and economic development which are influenced by the production and welfare activities of the peasant family. The theoretical argument is that a family reliant strategy of economic reform undercuts the effectiveness of population control programs. The ultimate solution lies with sustained industrialization with high labor absorption. National trends and the Dahe People's Commune/Township experience are analyzed. Discussion is focused on the dilemma of FP and family production, old and new evidence of family size and economic performance, welfare outcome of family size, the role of the state in altering the demographic balance sheet, and the strategic response of peasant families to bring families of old designs back and urban migration and proletarianization. It is concluded that there is growing understanding that the causal relationships between population growth and economic development do not clearly support universal population control. Human social organization, not the man/land ratio, shapes the consequences of population growth. The implications for the Malthusian vs. Marxian debate for developing countries are that the resources/population imbalance needs to consider more carefully the human organizational factors. Mao's notions that a revolutionary transformation of the social organization of production in China would resolve overpopulation have since been rectified by opposing ideological positions: changing the basic mode of production through institutional decollectivization and checking population growth with the 1-child policy. This dilemma in rural areas translates to greater productivity and diversification with Chinese families having abundant adult labor and secured by the number of sons. It is difficult to substantiate the benefit of small families for peasants theoretically. Political rewards have been curtailed by economic declines. The peasant family has adapted by reconstituting old family forms and kin networks and by out-migration and nonagricultural employment.     

Can Economic Growth Be Sustained? A Post‐Malthusian Perspective

In the United States and in other economically advanced countries, rapid productivity growth in the material‐producing sectors has been the major source of productivity growth for the entire economy. Over the next several decades, continuing structural change will result in a decline in employment in the material‐producing sectors to near or below 10 percent. A simulation exercise is employed to demonstrate how continued slow productivity growth in the service sectors dampens the rate of productivity growth of the entire economy. It is unlikely that productivity growth in the US economy can be sustained at anywhere near the relatively high rate achieved since the mid‐1990s.     

相对于生产力而言的中国人口问题——对“中国人口问题”的定性研究

中国人口问题是关系中国经济社会发展的大问题 ,迫切需要解决。但目前对中国人口问题的认识 ,却存在诸多疑义和隐忧。按照马克思主义的方法论 ,应将中国人口问题纳入社会生产力这一终极原因作考察认识 ,并定位定性为 :相对于生产力而言的中国人口问题。缘于此 ,要根据生产力的发展要求来决取中国人口问题的解决     

Population Aging and Endowment Insurance System Innovation

This paper, starting from examining the current situation for the social insurance service system, analyses the problems of the system and provides three reform suggestions. First, staffing levels of social insurance should bring about a dynamical ratio mechanism, which links staff number to the insured clients to avoid work overload or low service quality. Second, all of the expenditures of the service system should be a part of social insurance funds to completely avoid budget shortage. Third, in order to divide administration and service management and to separate supervision and operation functions, a national social insurance administration should be instituted,