Family planning as an economic investment

Authors

John Bongaarts, Population Council
Steven W. Sinding

Document Type

Article (peer-reviewed)

Publication Date

2011

Abstract

Family planning—the provision of the information and services people need to determine for themselves the number and spacing of their children—has always been a controversial and sensitive subject in public policy. We briefly review the evolution of the population policy environment over the past half-century, before focusing on the critical years since the mid-1990s when international support for family planning declined sharply. Our main argument is that investments in family planning are highly cost effective because they have powerful poverty reduction effects in addition to providing health and human rights benefits.

DOI

10.1353/sais.2011.0020

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Bongaarts, John and Steven W. Sinding. 2011. "Family planning as an economic investment," SAIS Review of International Affairs D31(2): 35–44.