Publication: Determinants and Consequences of High Fertility: A Synopsis of the Evidence
Date
2010-06
ISSN
Published
2010-06
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
In the six decades since 1950, fertility
has fallen substantially in developing countries. Even so,
high fertility, defined as five or more births per woman
over the reproductive career, characterizes 33 countries.
Twenty-nine of these countries are in Sub-Saharan Africa.
High fertility poses health risks for children and their
mothers, detracts from human capital investment, slows
economic growth, and exacerbates environmental threats.
These and other consequences of high fertility are reviewed
in the first half of this paper. Recognizing these
detrimental consequences motivates two inter-related
questions that are addressed in the second half of the
paper: Why does high fertility persist? And what can be done
about it? The high-fertility countries lag in many
development indicators, as reflected for example in their
rate of progress toward achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). These countries have also received
less development assistance for population and reproductive
health than countries more advanced in their transitions to
lower fertility, and the assistance they did receive
increased only marginally from 1995 to 2007, a period during
which commitments to both health and HIV/AIDS rose substantially.
Citation
“World Bank. 2010. Determinants and Consequences of High Fertility : A Synopsis of the Evidence. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/27497 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”