Demography - Population Policy

Question 1

Define population policy

Answer 1

Population policy may be defined as deliberately constructed or modified institutional arrangements and/or specific programmes through which governments influence, directly or indirectly, demographic change.

Question 2

Give the types of population policy

Answer 2

• Direct or explicit
  –Government actions taken for the purpose of affecting a demographic outcome, e.g., migration laws
• Indirect or implicit
  –Government actions that only indirectly have some demographic effects, e.g., promoting female education

Question 3

Benefits from Explicit policies (slowing down population growth)

Answer 3

Provide free family planning services

Increase taxes for each additional child

Restrict immigration

Raise the age of marriage

Question 4

Benefits of implicit policies (slowing down population growth)

Answer 4

Compulsory secondary education

Restrict child labour

Limit size of houses

Raise status of women

Provide old age security

Question 5

What is the rationale for adopting population policies

Answer 5

To change the future prospects of a country, specifically to:

1. Enhance economic development
2. Improve social welfare

3.Improve individual welfare

Question 6

What are the major areas of concern for population policies?

Answer 6

Historically
* Fertility – pronatalist
* Migration – restrict emigration, encourage immigration

Currently
* Migration – restrict immigration, encourage redistribution
* Mortality – prolong survival
* Fertility – primarily antinatalist.

Question 7

Give examples of pronatalist policies under Louis XIV, 1666

Answer 7

1. Penalties for celibacy
2. Partial tax exemption for early marriage
3. Lifetime tax exemption for father of 10 children, and, pension for father of 12 children (10 legitimate), provided none are celibate priests or nuns
4. Emigration forbidden under penalty of death*

*Note: Revocation of the Edict of Nantes led to persecution of Protestants in France, and 500,000 persons fled to other countries.

Question 8

What are the policy goals and targets?

Answer 8

1. To reduce the TFR from 5.5 to 5.0 in 2000 and to 3.0 in 2020
2. To achieve contraceptive prevalence rate of 15% by 2000 and 50% by 2020
3. To reduce the population growth rate from 3.0 to 1.5% in 2020
4. To reduce the proportion of women who marry before 18 by 50% by 2000 and 80% by 2020
5. To increase the supervised delivery to 80% by 2020

Question 9

Policy goals and targets II

Answer 9

6. To achieve birth spacing of at least 2 years by 2020
7. To reduce Infant Mortality Rate from 66 to 44 in 2005 and to 25 per 1000 live births by 2020
8. To reduce Maternal Mortality Rate of around 400 by 75% per 100,000 live birth by 2020
9. To increase life expectancy from 58 to 65 by 2010 and to 70 by 2020
10. To make family planning services available, accessible and affordable to at least 50% of adult population

Question 10

Describe the population distribution in Ghana (minus spatial distribution)

Answer 10

• Urbanization varies across regions
  – Highest in Greater Accra (90.5%) , followed by Ashanti (60.5%), least in Upper West (16.3%), see Fig in next slide

Question 11

Describe the population distribution in Ghana (spatial distribution).

Answer 11

• Spatial distribution is generally uneven; population density (# of persons per sq km of land) is high in the southern and middle belts and sparse in the regions in the north.

– Most densely populated is Greater Accra (1236 persons per sq km), followed by Central 224, most sparse is Northern Region 35 persons per sq km

Question 12

Describe Ghana’s trend in migration

Answer 12

The internal migration pattern relates to all directions;
rural – urban
urban – urban
urban – rural
rural – rural