New perspective in population assistance

The United States Agency for International Development (AID), in a proposal to Congress, has suggested that before assistance is extended to developing countries, its impact on the country's population growth should be considered and development projects accepted that contribute directly to fertility declines. Foreign development projects will be examined for their direct and indirect impact on population growth. Some projects related to education, employment and economic development may be found, by their very nature, to encourage fertility decline and emphasized as a result of the impact examinations. Other projects may be changed to stress the features that are conducive to slowing population growth. The population impact examination proposal has been included in this year's legislation to authorize the continuation of United States development assistance programs for the fiscal year 1978.     

On the relationship between population and education]

The social and historical development of population and education is subject to the restriction of the means of production. Although it is not the major factor in determing the direction of social development, it has a great impact on social progress and historical development. The scale and level of educational development are not only influenced by social and economic conditions but are also related to the scale of population growth and the number of people who receive an education. In studies of the relationship between the population and education, special attention should be given to the impact of population growth upon education as well as the everlasting influence of education upon the population structure and social mobility. Since 1949, because of a rapid population growth, the existing educational system in China has suffered severe damage and destruction. There have been an insufficient number of schools and a shortage of funds for education for quite some time, and the population growth has caused great pressure on education. The relationship between the population and education in a modern society is a rather complicated problem. As a country with a large population and a backward education, China needs to develop its education and promote its population quality in order that favorable conditions may be created for the overall development of Socialist modernization.     

Motor Vehicles in China: The Impact of Demographic and Economic Changes

While China's transportation sector is relatively small compared to other nations—both in absolute terms and relative to the size of the population—the nation is currently experiencing one of the highest annual motorization growth rates in the world. This rapid growth has raised both excitement among business leaders over the potentially enormous market for automobiles and concern among environmentalists over their further impact on the global environment. This paper examines the influence of population growth, increased urbanization, and economic development on the rapid growth of motor vehicles in China, and considers their implications for future motor vehicle growth in the country.     

中国人口年龄结构变动对出生率的影响研究

本文利用相关年份的《中国统计年鉴》和人口普查数据,根据粗出生率与总和生育率的关系与特征,构建了人口年龄结构系数及其对粗出生率变动影响的贡献率指标,分析了建国以来人口年龄结构变动对出生率的影响。研究发现：1949—1979年,人口年龄结构变动对出生率的影响很小;1980—1993年,人口年龄结构变动对出生率的影响迅速上升,年龄结构的贡献率增大;1994—2008年,人口年龄结构变动对出生率的影响趋于下降,人口惯性势能在减弱;2009—2011年,受80—90年代出生高峰的影响,人口年龄结构变动对出生率的影响再次凸显,年龄结构的贡献率迅速增大。从年龄别生育率逐年下降的特点,也可以证明近年推动我国人口增长的力量主要是由于年龄结构带来的惯性增长。     

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.     

Labor Supply Prospects in 16 Developed Countries, 2000–2050

Over the past 20 years, policy attention has been focused upon the implications of below‐replacement fertility for the aging of populations. This article argues that another potential consequence, a decline in the absolute size of the labor force, may prove to be an equally compelling issue because of its impact on rates of economic growth. Because the United States will experience both increasing labor productivity and an increase in its labor supply, the growth orientation of the global economy is likely to persist. In this circumstance, given relatively comparable changes in the productivity of labor across countries, countries that face major declines in their labor supply will fare less well than countries that are able to maintain their labor supply at least constant. The article examines the labor supply prospects of 16 developed countries for the period 2000–2050, drawing attention to the ways in which countries may be able to influence the future levels of their labor supply.     

The role of population in social development]

This essay deals with population growth, varieties in population density, and their impacts on social development from the viewpoint of Socialism. The author's main argument can be summarized as follows: 1) population growth is a kind of social production, and it is more important than the geographical environment in relation to social development. Regarding population growth, varieties in population density, and the geographical environment as conditions of equal importance in social life is debatable. 2) the changes in population development should not be limited to the changes in number alone. As science and technology are developed, the impact of changes of population quality on social development is becoming increasingly important. 3) population growth is not the major force which determines the social outlook and social system, and it directly influences social productivity. One should not think that a large population and rapid growth rate will speed up social productivity, or that a small population and a slow growth rate will slow down the development of social productivity. The author quotes Joseph Stalin to support his argument.     

Africa's expanding population: old problems,new policies

Sub-Saharan Africa faces an historic challenge: to achieve economic and social progress while experiencing extraordinary population growth. With an estimated 1989 population of 512 million, the 42 countries of sub-Saharan Africa have the highest birth and death rates of any major world region. While death rates have fallen since the 1960s, persistently high birth rates yield annual growth rates above 3% in many countries. The United Nations projects that the region's population will increase 2.7 times by 2025--to 1.4 billion. Throughout the region, population has outstripped economic growth since the mid-1970s. In addition, many African countries are experiencing an epidemic of AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). The extent and demographic impact of the epidemic still are unknown, but disturbing social and political effects are already being felt. The region's population growth will slow only when African couples begin to have fewer children. The average number of children per woman ranges from 6 to 8 for most countries. The Africans' preference for large families is deeply rooted in the culture and fed by the perceived economic benefits they receive from their children. Economic stagnation during the 1980s prompted many national governments to recognize that rapid population growth was hindering their socioeconomic development. The political climate has shifted away from pronatalist or laissez-faire attitudes toward official policies to slow population growth. The policy formation process--detailed here for 4 countries (Zambia, Nigeria, Zaire, and Liberia)--is ponderous and beset with political and bureaucratic pitfalls, However, policy shifts in more and more countries combined with evidence of increased contraceptive use and fertility downturns in a few countries give some hope that the region's extraordinary population growth may have peaked and will start a descent. Whatever the case, the decade of the 1990s will be crucial for the future of sub-Saharan Africa.     

The importance of demographic analyses in state- and local-level policy evaluations: A case study analysis of property taxes in Texas,USA

The reluctance of policy-makers to incorporate detailed demographic analyses in policy analyses often means that population composition is ignored in state and local policy evaluations. This article uses standard demographic projection, standardization and rate decomposition techniques to examine the implications of changing population composition for the property tax revenue base of Texas. The authors find that if current socioeconomic differentials persist into the future, projected compositional changes in the household population of Texas will significantly impact property tax revenues. Thus revenue projections based on aggregate growth and current average property value would seriously overestimate future property tax revenues in Texas because changes in the composition of the population lead to disproportionate growth in households likely to live in lower valued housing unite. The results indicate that the continuing focus of state and local policy-makers on changes in population size alone may be ill-advised and demonstrate the increasing importance of local- and state-level demographic analysis in a period of increasing Federal devolution of service provision.     

健康投资对人口老龄化的影响分析——基于人口均衡发展的视角

健康投入的快速增长将对人口老龄化发展产生重要影响。基于人口均衡发展的视角,研究发现,健康投入对老龄化的影响作用不仅仅体现在老年人口数量方面,还体现于老年人口的结构,诸如年龄、性别、城乡状况等方面,进而会使未来的老龄化社会出现规模老龄化、高龄老龄化、性别失衡老龄化以及农村健康不安全老龄化等新的特征,我国老龄化问题亦将由数量压迫型向数量增长和结构失衡并存型转变。而对老年人口实施健康和人力资源管理,推进城乡健康公平则是应对未来老龄化问题的重要举措。     

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.     

Population growth, the dependency rate, and the pace of economic development

Abstract The analysis of population's impact on the economy has frequently been developed in the context of the dependency-rate argument. The dependency rate, typically measured as the proportion of the total population outside the labour force, is a summary statistic which is intended to capture the influence of a population's age structure on the process of economic growth. Unfortunately, there has been substantial confusion surrounding the economic interpretation of the dependency rate. This confusion derives from the fact that the dependency rate has been used as a proxy for several age-specific influences of population on economic growth. Additionally, for anyone of these influences of population, the impact on the economy will be determined by the particular economic model within which the dependency rate is being analysed. In other words, depending on which age-specific economic aspect of the dependency rate is being examined, and depending on which economic model forms the basis of the analysis, it is possible that an increase in the dependency rate may be associated with either an increase or a decrease in the economy-wide growth of output per head. As a result, the widely used dependency-rate statistic may not be a particularly useful predictor of economic - demographic - growth-rate interrelationships unless the analyst makes explicit his underlying economic framework, and unless the particular economic influences for which the dependency rate is taken as a proxy are delineated.     

The global and regional impact of mortality and fertility transitions, 1950-2000

During the second half of the twentieth century, world population grew at a record pace, both in absolute and relative terms, from 2.5 billion to 6 billion (or 1.75 percent annually). Demographers have long identified rapid mortality declines as the main explanation. This article finds that one-fourth of today's world population is alive because of mortality improvements since mid-century. Very rapid growth is unlikely to continue as substantial fertility declines also occurred in recent decades. This article finds that already by the year 2000, these fertility declines have almost exactly compensated for the impact of mortality declines from mid-century levels. This result may suggest homeostasis, but analyses of underlying trends contradict this impression. First, the impact of fertility declines will soon and significantly exceed that of mortality declines. Second, that mortality and fertility declines jointly affect the size of the world population by less than one percent conceals a significant impact on the population's age composition as well as on regional population sizes.     

Running to stay in the same place

Although the world's population growth rate will decline to 1.6% by the year 2000, another 2 billion persons will have been added to the world's population by that time. Most of the increase will occur in the world's poorest regions and in countries which also experienced vast growth from 1950-1980. These increases will aggravate the existing problems of rural migration, rapid urbanization, urban poverty, and unemployment and will reduce the impact of development programs. By the year 2000, over 80% of the world's population will live in developing areas. Latin America's proportion of the world's population will increase from 8-10%, Africa's share will increase from 11-13%, and Asia's share, excluding China, will increase from 32-36%. China's share, however, will decline from 28-23%. Within these regions the increases in population will be unevenly distributed. Programs and policies dealing with resource allocation, health, economic development, and job creation will have to be focused on those areas of highest population concentration. If major efforts are not directed toward employment generation, and if employment generation is not tailored to the needs of the labor force in these areas, the resultant increase in poverty will reduce the effectiveness of family planning programs and destroy the gains made in the past to stem population growth.     

韩国人口结构变化对储蓄的影响

目前在韩国,随着人口年龄结构的不断老化,必然对经济增长产生负面影响。但通过仔细分析人口年龄结构变化可以预测,即使在人口老龄化的背景下,今后10年间的经济增长潜力将会类似于现在的增长潜力或趋于更高的增长,目前正处于对应未来长期性低增长的准备时期。因此,企业、政府及国民都应充分利用此时期,积极解决因青年人口减少导致的技能人力不足的问题;积极解决人口老龄化背景下的老龄劳动力利用问题;积极解决个人寿命延长导致的养老问题等。     

中国人口老龄化对经济发展的影响分析

目前我国正处于人口老龄化的初期阶段,人口老龄化给我国的劳动力、消费、储蓄和其他社会问题带来很多负面影响。随着老龄化峰值的到来,其对社会经济的负面影响将进一步显露,我国应该在人口老龄化的初期阶段抓住劳动力资源丰富、社会负担较轻的黄金时期,在人口老龄化峰值来临之前,扬长避短,促进经济的长期增长。     

On the relationship between population growth and economic development]

People are producers as well as consumers. If we look at only one side and ignore the other, we will be unable to reach impartial conclusions concerning the population problem. An obvious and close relationship exists between population growth and national economic development. If the two do not match each other, there will be numerous contradictory problems. For example, if the population grows too fast, serious social and economic problems will be created, such as a rise in the demand for living resources, an oversupply of the labor force, unemployment, and an insufficient availability of arable land, a shortage of public housing, more demand for health care and public transportation, and cultural and educational enterprises. In addition, a rapid population growth may cause more problems for the natural environment. As a result of overpopulation, the pressure on natural resources will be intensified and may therefore cause damage to the environment and create an ecological imbalance. All the above may bring very serious difficulties and obstacles to the advancement of socialism and modernized constructions. To avoid this, we must try to solve the population problem thoroughly and maintain a balanced relationship between the population growth and economic development.     

Why population matters

Population growth around the world affects Americans through its impact on the economy, the environment, and the world our children will inherit. This explains why population growth is important and why the U.S. government provides assistance (roughly $500 million annually, or $2 per American) for population programs in developing countries. These programs help couples to use family planning when they want to, thereby reducing birthrates, protecting the health of women, and strengthening families.     

Polygyny and the rate of population growth

Summary The roots, motives and feasibility of practising polygyny in societies with a balanced sex structure and the effect of polygyny on the rate of population growth are considered. High demand for labour combined with limited supply over the last several centuries, had been conducive to the evolution of a polygynous nuptiality pattern. The unprecedentedly high rates of population growth during the last several decades combined with progressive economic development have led to a change in the role of the labour factor and consequently diminished its impact upon polygyny. Polygyny is feasible because of a sex-age differential at first marriage, which enables younger cohorts of women to enter the marriage market, and thus results in a very early age at first marriage and universal incidence of marriage among women. A very young pattern of nuptiality inevitably evolves under polygyny, which tends to raise the rate of population growth. No significant variation in fertility between polygynous and monogamous women was found but substantial gaps in standards of living, child mortality, and educational attainment were noted for polygynous households. The findings imply that during the transition from polygyny to monogamy family size will tend to diminish, although initially fertility may not decline concurrently with changing socio-economic status. The most important effects on the rate of population growth thus result from the increase in age at first marriage and declining proportions of ever married women.     

Major studies on population authorized by United States Congress

The Office of Technology Assessment, acting on a request from the U.S. Congress, will undertake 2 major population studies in the near future. The goal of the studies will be to facilitate U.S. policy formulation over the next couple of decades. The 1st study will attempt 1) to assess the impact of efforts make by national government to alter birth rates between 1960-1980; 2) to predict the effects of population growth utilizing different assumptions concerning family planning; 3) to identify the types of population issues which will emerge in the period 1980-2000; and 4) identify research priorities aimed at clarifying these issues. The 2nd study will 1) investigate current contraceptive technology; 2) attempt to define a perfect contraceptive; and 3) examine the prospects of contraceptive technology between 1980-2000.