In the past 50 years the global fertility rate has plummeted. In the past decade alone it has dropped by 16 percent, and today sits at 2.7 children per woman. A recent UN report shows that women’s fertility is dropping faster than predicted, due in part to gains in education, lowered infant mortality, and increased access to contraceptives. Although the world as a whole has seen huge progress, some regions are still facing serious issues related to fertility, specifically rates that are still very high or rates below replacement level.
Countries such as Italy, Spain, Bulgaria and Russia have fertility rates far below what is needed to replace the existing population. This has brought questions about cultural survival, immigration and social security into public debate. Many governments are now beginning discussions and developing strategies to address these issues.
In Russia, the population has been shrinking over the past eight years. Their fertility rate currently sits below replacement level, at 1.17 births per woman. The number of abortions in Russia each year outnumbers the number of births. To address the problem, the Russian government is considering plans to encourage couples to have more children, including housing subsidies, tax breaks and increasing the monthly stipend for children. The right-wing, nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky has suggested extreme measures to boost the declining population, calling for a ten year ban on abortions and suggesting policies preventing women of childbearing age from leaving the country.
On the contrary, many countries in Africa have fertility rates that are well above five children per woman, the worldwide average in 1950. Extremely high infant mortality rates, grinding poverty, and limited access to contraceptives have been contributing factors. In many countries, girls marry at a very early age and often become mothers at 15 or 16 years old. In many cases women lack any decision making power when it comes to their fertility. In parts of Africa women’s use of modern contraceptives is less than 10 percent and in some countries, like Chad, the presence of the husband is required for women to receive contraceptives.
The rapid decrease in fertility rates has been a welcome change in many of the world’s most crowded countries. However, in many of these same nations a large percentage of their population is still below reproductive age. As these children begin to reproduce they will insure that their counties population will continue to grow for decades. With over 97 percent of projected population growth occurring in developing countries, it’s these same women that will also be determining the size of our human family.
