Lower fertility rates provide 'window of opportunity' for development – UN report

The halving of fertility rates in developing countries, and a dip in the birth rate of even the least developed ones, provides a “window of opportunity” to reaching international development goals, according to a United Nations report released today in anticipation of the coming World Summit in New York.

According to the report, "Population Challenges and Development Goals," issued by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the reductions, which began in the 1970s, have lowered the percentage of children in the population and increased the proportion of persons of working age in developing countries.

Provided jobs are available for the rising number of workers, the report says that developing countries can reap the benefits of increased production along with the lessened burden of decreasing proportion of dependent children.

From 1950 to 2005, the report states, fertility rates in “less-developed” countries, developing countries not in the poorest category, plummeted from 6.2 births per family to 2.8. Countries in Asia, many of whom fit in that category, went from six births to 2.4.

Among the 50 least developed countries, most of which are located in Africa, the rate fell from 6.7 births per family in 1950, to 5.0 in 2005. Though not as sharp a decline, the report finds the 20 per cent drop a hopeful sign toward the alleviation of the high population growth pressures that most affect these countries.

Since countries with extreme poverty are still expected to experience at least a quarter of all population growth occurring in the next 10 years, DESA says that those countries will benefit most from the reduction of fertility brought about by the prevention of unwanted births, a goal of the programme of action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), a UN-sponsored body.