Roll your cursor over the icons to see the UN's predictions for world population growth depending on different changes in average family size. As you can see, just a small change in family size makes a lot of difference...

1.6 children or fewer

2 children

2.5 children

The rôle of children
Birth rates today are highest in the poorest regions, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. Although deaths from AIDS may change the situation, the population of this region could triple over the next 50 years.

Poor families in sub-Saharan Africa have good reasons to have more children.

Global Responsibilities
High population growth puts greater pressure on the world's resources like energy, water and fertile land. But the people who live in the developed world are part of the problem too. Today, people in the richest countries consume 86% of the world's resources even though they represent only a fifth of the world's population. For example, it is estimated that one American uses 28 times more energy than one Indian. Some argue that MEDC governments should respond by taking more action to change the way people live in the developed world - for example, investing more into sustainable practices like renewable energy, saving water and recycling waste to cut down the rate at which we use resources.

By force or by choice
The issues may be global, but ways of dealing with them in the past have focused on lowering birth rates in the developing world. Extreme cases of 'population control' have forced women to use contraceptives or to be sterilized.

to get an update on China's form of 'population control' called the 'one child policy'.

In contrast, the Cuban government has tackled the reasons why poorer people want children in the first place. By creating a health service freely available to everybody, Cuba has one of the lowest levels of infant mortality in Latin America. Once parents are confident that their children will survive, they have fewer children to begin with. At 14 per 1,000, Cuba's birth rate in 2001 was lower than the USA.

Names, not Numbers
Family sizes in Bangladesh have also fallen even though the country remains poor. Here, access to 'reproductive health care' has helped to reduce the birth rate. Whereas 'population control' methods reduce people to numbers, 'reproductive health care' treats people as individuals with names, feelings, and the right to decide if, when and how often they want to have children.

What is 'reproductive health care'?
to find out.

©Giacomo Pirozzi/Panos Pictures.

Contraceptive education in a village in Swaziland.

Individual rights and responsibilities topped the agenda of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo. In particular, the improved position of women was recognised as the best known way of bringing down the birth rate. With access to reproductive health care and effective education, women are more likely to have the self-confidence to take charge of their sex lives, and greater power to plan the size of their families.
for an Excel spreadsheet of development data for selected countries. Find out whether there is any relationship (or 'correlation') between different development indicators like:

• GDP per capita and the birth rate
• The birth rate and the average age of women for their first marriage
• The birth rate and the % of women using contraception

You can get the computer to do a statistical correlation or make a scatter graph by using the correl tool or chart wizard. If you need help with this,

Speaking out for girl power, ex-Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell is a spokesperson for the Face-to-Face campaign to improve the reproductive health rights of women. Visit www.facecampaign.org for more.

It takes Two

©O'Leary/Population Concern

The Cairo conference also recognised that men have reproductive and sexual health needs. Family planning services used to ignore the part that men played in decision-making about contraception, making them less likely to behave as responsible partners. In addition, research and family planning services focused on female forms of contraceptives even though condoms and vasectomies for men are easier and safer. But the problem of STIs, particularly HIV/AIDS, has given an added push to promote condoms to prevent the spread of disease, and to cut down the number of unwanted pregnancies.

Obstacles Ahead
'Reproductive health care' may be the way forward, but many people are still denied access, especially young people and unmarried women. At the Cairo conference, it was agreed that spending should increase by an extra £10.6 billion a year to expand reproductive health care. Representatives from developed countries agreed to pay a third of the bill. Yet even though we spend more money each year on chocolate and sweets in the UK alone, the money made available so far has fallen way below this amount. Further threats to reproductive health care services worldwide have come from George W. Bush's first move as US President in January 2001. His government has reinstated a ban on US funding for any organisation that offers advice and support on abortions, even if this is only one of the services that they provide.

Although it may be a long time before everyone can get the reproductive health care they need, there has been progress since the Cairo conference. Go to one of the next pages to find out more.

Other recommended websites on population issues...
There are many websites on population issues. Here are a few useful ones:
Visit www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbpyr.html if you need population pyramids for any country in any year.
www.geohive.com includes masses of up-to-date data on different countries.
www.dayof6billion.org, or www.popexpo.net are two colourful, easy to follow websites that look at population issues.
www.unfpa.org/modules/briefkit/index.htm: Here you can download the Population Issues Briefing Kit 2001 written by the UN Population Fund. This will give you lots of information on population issues including population trends by region, the impact and prevention of HIV/AIDS and reproductive health & rights.

For more in-depth information and statistics on reproductive health care and changes in population policies, visit:
www.un.org/popin
www.popcouncil.org
www.popinfo.org
www.unfpa.org (choose 'State of World population' from the top menu)