Managing Population Growth

Some governments want fewer babies. Some want more. And some of the policies that changed birth rates most were never aimed at birth rates at all — they were about schools and hospitals. That split, between direct and indirect, is the whole point of this page.

Direct and indirect: the split that matters

Population management involves policies aimed at influencing the size, growth and distribution of human populations. Governments use them to deal with overcrowding, economic demands and ageing populations.

Anti-natalist and pro-natalist policies

These are the two direct approaches to birth rates, and they point in opposite directions.

Anti-natalist policies

Anti-natalist policies reduce birth rates in countries with high population growth. They are common where a country faces overpopulation and resources are strained.

Outcomes. Anti-natalist policies lead to slower population growth and reduced pressure on resources. But they also store up long-term problems, above all an ageing population with too few young people to support the elderly.

Pro-natalist policies

Pro-natalist policies encourage an increase in birth rates in countries with low or negative population growth. They are used where a country faces an ageing population or labour shortages.

Outcomes. Pro-natalist policies help boost population growth and keep a balanced ratio between working-age people and the elderly. The catch is that they take time to show any effect and can meet cultural resistance — you cannot pay people into wanting children.

Migration policies

Migration policies manage immigration (inward) and emigration (outward) to influence population size and labour markets. Countries encourage or restrict movement depending on their economic needs and population goals.

• Open immigration policies let more people enter, particularly where there is a need for workers. Germany has encouraged immigration to offset its declining population and labour shortages.
• Restrictions on immigration limit numbers to control growth or protect jobs for citizens. Australia operates a strict points-based system that favours skilled workers.
• Encouraging emigration: some countries actively promote it to relieve population pressure.

Outcomes. Immigration can balance an ageing population, provide labour and diversify the economy. Emigration reduces population pressure, but it can cause a brain drain, where the skilled workers a country most needs are the ones who leave.

Indirect management

Indirect population management covers policies that are not trying to control population at all, but still affect birth rates, death rates and migration. They work through economic, social, health and development areas.

Economic policies

Start with the question that unlocks this whole section: why do poorer families have more children? It is not an accident. In less wealthy societies there is real economic pressure to have a larger family.

• Children contribute to family income. In rural or low-income areas, children work on farms or help with small businesses.
• There is no social welfare. Without pensions or state healthcare, parents rely on their children to support them in old age.
• Child mortality is higher. Where healthcare is poor, parents have more children so that some survive to adulthood.
• Access to education is limited. With few opportunities for higher education, a child is a source of immediate labour rather than a long-term investment.

Wealthier societies tend to have lower birth rates, because families prefer to invest more in fewer children. So the methods are simply things that make people better off:

• Job creation and economic stability reduce poverty, and families then focus on education and careers rather than family size.
• Welfare systems let families feel secure with fewer children, because the state, not their children, supports them in old age.

Social and gender equality policies

Policies that promote gender equality and social development indirectly reduce birth rates, because they let women make informed decisions about family planning.

• Education for girls and women leads to later marriage, later childbirth and smaller families.
• Workforce participation lets women focus on careers, which usually means smaller families and later pregnancies.

Outcomes. Improved gender equality gives women more choices, which results in lower birth rates. Societies with greater gender equality also have higher levels of education and economic participation, and both of those reduce population growth on their own.

Public health and welfare policies

Health policies affect population growth by lowering death rates and improving general wellbeing — and both of those go on to influence birth rates.

• Improved healthcare, especially maternal and child health services, reduces infant mortality.
• When parents can be confident their children will survive, they choose to have smaller families.

So better healthcare reduces both death rates and birth rates, which leads to more stable population growth. That is a genuinely surprising result and it is worth remembering, because most students assume healthcare only ever increases population.

Worked examples