Asias Population Problems

Asia's Population Problems (1967) features papers written by specialists – demographers, economists and sociologists – examining the various population issues facing different Asian countries in the decades following the Second World War. Population facts and policies, apart from affecting an individual’s happiness and security and a nation’s economic and social advancement, have come to play an important role in international relations. A proper understanding of demographic trends is key, and this volume aims to supply significant population facts and figures, and also provides the general national, economic and political framework of each country against which certain international demographic attitudes, approaches and policies may be understood.

This book argues that Asia's population aging and stagnation needs to be viewed through a multi-dimensional lens, serving as a useful resource for government workers, stakeholders, and scholars in sociology, demography, geography, and economics.--Adapted from dust jacket.

The population of Asia is growing both larger and older. Demographically the most important continent on the world, Asia's population, currently estimated to be 4.2 billion, is expected to increase to about 5.9 billion by 2050. Rapid declines in fertility, together with rising life expectancy, are altering the age structure of the population so that in 2050, for the first time in history, there will be roughly as many people in Asia over the age of 65 as under the age of 15. It is against this backdrop that the Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the U.S. National Institute on Aging (NIA) asked the National Research Council (NRC), through the Committee on Population, to undertake a project on advancing behavioral and social research on aging in Asia. Aging in Asia: Findings from New and Emerging Data Initiatives is a peer-reviewed collection of papers from China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Thailand that were presented at two conferences organized in conjunction with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, Indonesian Academy of Sciences, and Science Council of Japan; the first conference was hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, and the second conference was hosted by the Indian National Science Academy in New Delhi. The papers in the volume highlight the contributions from new and emerging data initiatives in the region and cover subject areas such as economic growth, labor markets, and consumption; family roles and responsibilities; and labor markets and consumption.

This study attempts to inform discussion about population issues in Asia, in 1990 a region with half the world's population. This study addresses a wide range of topics, including past patterns of population growth and its underlying determinants, the design of family planning programmes, and the implications of population prospects for macroeconomic and sectoral policies. Its approach is comparative analysis based on country-level data. The findings in this study are properly viewed as first steps toward designing country-specific interventions. Three overall messages emerge concerning population policies: a) the effectiveness of Asia's family planning programs in sustaining further fertility decline can be improved; b) investments in family planning services are essential, but not sufficient, to bring about sustained fertility declines to replacement level; and c) substantial population increase is unavoidale in the short run, say the next 40 years, presenting substantial challenges for development policies.