Population Policies and Gender: Pro-natalist and Anti-natalist Approaches

Governments try to influence the size, growth, and structure of their populations through population policies. These fall into two broad types. Anti-natalist policies aim to reduce the birth rate, usually where rapid growth is straining resources. Pro-natalist policies aim to raise the birth rate, usually where low fertility and ageing threaten the workforce and pension systems. Increasingly, geographers stress that the most effective and ethical lever over fertility is not coercion but gender equality—especially the education and empowerment of women.

Anti-natalist policy: China's former one-child policy

The best-known anti-natalist policy is China's one-child policy, introduced in 1979 to curb population growth that leaders feared would outstrip food and development. The policy limited m