Population Control Policy Issues

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "Joe" wrote:

I believe the lower-growth as a
> function of higher education effect you are looking at is most
pronounced in
> areas where education and standards of living is abysmally low.

Actually, it's the opposite.
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/meguro.htm

BEGIN QUOTE
The fertility rates in the Western industrialized countries declined
to the below-replacement level in the 1960s. Contraceptive devices,
legalized abortion, women's acquisition of higher education and paid
work, secularization of values, together with increased acceptance
of cohabitation and reproduction among unwed couples, the delayed
timing of marriage and the birth of the first child caused
a "revolutionary" change which led to the low fertility rate
END QUOTE

See also:
http://www.unfpa.org/intercenter/cycle/education.htm

Is the
> effect as powerful in industrialized nations? Places with strong
public
> education systems? Which societies would be better models for
orbital
> habitats?

Yes, the effect is most powerful in industrial nations.

For the long term implications, see here:
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id 85219

As to you rquestion of which society is the better model for an
orbital Habitat, well that depends on many things. I would take it
for grnted that an Orbital Society will be a technological one
requiring many skilled workers, therefore, ceterus parabus, a
Western society becomes a likely model, and with that come the same
behavioral dynamics.

Just as Europe and North America need a constant influx of
immigrants to maintain their populations, so too will a Habitat that
has the same dynamics. Therefore there will never be a population
crisis because the birth rate is below replacement.

If the policies are changed to encourage procreation then you're
creating something new and different because it differs from Western
Society. What do you want to emphasize?

To encourage more children you've got to create policies that are
family friendly.

You've probably also got to change the male-female dynamic to
encourage more male-child caregiving. In a sense, a more equal
society.

I know that there are women who belong to this list and it would be
interesting to read their thoughts on how they reconcile personal
ambitions, family size, lifestyle choices for themselves, resources
that they want to devote to each child, and ambitions for their
children. All of these questions are just as applicable to men as
well.

I'll chip in with my policy suggestions in the next-go-round of this
post.

TangoMan