Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The debate over low fertility in the popular press: A cross-national comparison, 1998–1999

  • Published:
Population Research and Policy Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Aspects of below-replacement fertility have long been debated among professional demographers. This paper describes the corresponding popular debate about low fertility by analyzing 437 newspaper and magazine articles from eleven developed countries during 1998 and 1999. Despite the diversity in the national debates due to different socioeconomic, political and demographic backgrounds, our study finds important commonalties in the way low fertility is debated: First, countries emphasize consequences and potential interventions rather than causes in their popular debates over low fertility. Second, our study reveals that the popular press discusses low fertility as a serious concern with mostly negative implications, despite the fact that many of the causes of low fertility are associated with social and economic progress. Third, the variety of issues and perspectives revealed in the popular debate, while cohesive in general ways, invites a role for demographers in informing an accurate public discussion of low fertility, which will help form the most appropriate policy outcomes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ahn, Namkee & Mira, Pedro (1998), Changing relationship between fertility and female employment in developed countries, paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Society for Population Economics, Amsterdam.

  • Bongaarts, John & Feeney, Griffith (2000), On the quantum and tempo of fertility: A reply, Population and Development Review 26(3): 560-564.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, J. I. (1996), The impact of population change on environment: An overview, in Bernardo Colombo, Paul Demeny & Max F. Perutz (eds.), Resources and Population: Natural, Institutional and Demographic Dimensions of Development, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coale, Ansley J. (1986), Demographic effects of below-replacement fertility and their social implications, Population and Development Review 12(supplement): 203-216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demeny, Paul (1997a), Replacement-level fertility: The implausible endpoint of the demographic transition, in G.W. Jones, R. M. Douglas, J. C. Caldwell & R. M. D'Sousa (eds.), The Continuing Demographic Transition. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demeny, Paul (1999), Policy Interventions, in United Nations, Population Division 1999, Below Replacement Fertility, Population Bulletin, Special Issues Nos. 40/41.

  • Espenshade, Thomas J. (1986), Population dynamics with immigration and low fertility, Population and Development Review 12(supplement): 248-261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster, Caroline (2000), The limits to low fertility: A biosocial approach, Population and Development Review 26(2): 209-234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gauthier, Anne Helene (1996), The State and the Family: A Comparative Analysis of Family Policies in Industrialized Countries, New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gauthier, Anne Helene (2001), The impact of public policies on families and demographic behaviour. Paper presented at the EURESCO Conference on the Second Demographic Transition, Bad Herrenhalb, Germany, June 23-28 (available at http://www.demogr.mpg.de/Papers/workshops).

  • Golini, Antonio (1998a), Demographics, public spending and social programs, Labour 12(1): 119-141.

    Google Scholar 

  • Golini, Antonio (1998b), How low can fertility be? An empirical exploration, Population and Development Review 24(1): 59-74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heer, David M. (1986), Immigration as a counter to below-replacement fertility in the United States, Population and Development Review 12(supplement): 262-269.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoem, Britta (2000), Entry into motherhood in Sweden: The influence of economic factors on the rise and fall in fertility, 1986-1997, Demographic Research 2(4): online at http://www.demographic-research.org.

  • Hoem, Jan M. (1990), Social policy and recent fertility change in Sweden, Population and Development Review 16(4): 735-748.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoem, Jan M., Prskawetz, Alexia & Neyer, Gerada (1999), Autonomy or conservative adjustment? The effect of public policies, educational attainment on third births in Austria, 1975-96, Population Studies 55(3): 249-262.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hotz, Joseph V., Klerman, Jacob A. & Willis, Robert J. (1997), The Economics of Fertility in Developed Countries, in Mark R. Rosenzweig & Oded Stark (eds.), Handbook of Population and Family Economics, Amsterdam: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohler, Hans-Peter, Billari, Francesco C., & Ortega, JoséA. (2002), Towards a theory of lowest-low fertility, Population and Development Review forthcoming.

  • Kohler, Hans-Peter & Philipov, Dimiter (2001), Variance effects and nonlinearities in the Bongaarts-Feeney formula, Demography 38(1): 1-16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohler, Hans-Peter, Rodgers, Joseph L. & Christensen, Kaare (1999), Is fertility behavior in our genes: Findings from a Danish twin study, Population and Development Review 25(2): 253-288.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kreyenfeld, M. & Hank, K. (2000), Does the availability of childcare influence the employment of mothers? Findings from western Germany, Population Research and Policy Review 19(3).

  • Lee, Ronald D. (2000), Long-term population projections and the US social security system, Population and Development Review 26(1):137-143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, Ronald D. (1994), The formal demography of population aging, transfers, and the economic life cycle, in L. Martin & S. Preston (eds.), The Demography of Aging, Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesthaeghe, Ron (1983), A century of demographic and cultural change in Western Europe: An exploration of underlying dimensions, Population and Development Review 9(3): 411-435.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesthaeghe, Ron & Willems, Paul (1999), Is low fertility a temporary phenomenon in the European Union?, Population and Development Review 25(2): 211-229.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, Peter & Kippen, Rebecca (2001), Labor supply prospects in 16 developed countries, 2000-2001, Population and Development Review 27(1): 1-32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macunovich, D. J. (1996) Relative income and price of time: exploring their effects on US fertility and female labor force participation, Population and Development Review 22(supplement): 223-257.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, Linda G. & Preston, Samuel H. (1994), The Demography of Aging. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, S. Philip & King, Rosalind B. (2001), Why have children in the 21st century? Biological predispositions, social coercion, rational choice, European Journal of Population 71(1): 3-20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Namboodiri, K. & Wei, L. (1997), Fertility theories and their implications how low can low fertility be, paper presented at The Twenty-third IUSSP General Population Conference, Beijing.

  • Rindfuss, Ronald R., Benjamin, Karen & Morgan, S. Philip (2000), The changing institutional context of low fertility, paper presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Los Angeles.

  • Rogers, Everett & Storey, J. Douglas (1995), Communication campaigns, in Charles R. Berger & Steven H. Chaffee (eds.), Handbook of Science Communication, London: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teitelbaum, Michael S. & Winter, Jay (1985), The Fear of Population Decline. London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teitelbaum, Michael (1999), Consequences of sustained below-replacement fertility, in United Nations, Population Division 1999, Below Replacement Fertility, Population Bulletin, Special Issues Nos. 40/41.

  • Teitelbaum, Michael S. & Winter, Jay (1998), A Question of Numbers: High Migration, Low Fertility and the Politics of National Identity. New York: Hill & Wang.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations (1989), Trends in population policies, no. 114 in Population Studies. New York: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • van de Kaa, Dirk J. (1987), Europe's second demographic transition, Population Bulletin 42(1): 1-57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wachter, Kenneth W. (1997), Kinship resources for the elderly, Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society of London Series B, Biological Sciences 352(1363): 1811-1817.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weil, David N. (1997), The economics of population aging, in Mark R. Rosenzweig & Oded Stark (eds.), Handbook of Population and Family Economics, Amsterdam: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilmoth, John R. & Ball, Patrick (1992), The population debate in American popular magazines, 1946-90, Population and Development Review 18(4): 631-668.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zoubanov, Anatoly (2000), Population ageing and population decline: government views and policies, United Nations Expert Group Meeting on Policy Responses to Population Ageing and Population Decline, October 16-18, New York.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Princeton University Office of Population Research, UK

    Laura Stark

  2. University of Pennsylvania, USA

    Hans-Peter Kohler

Authors
  1. Laura Stark
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hans-Peter Kohler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stark, L., Kohler, HP. The debate over low fertility in the popular press: A cross-national comparison, 1998–1999. Population Research and Policy Review 21, 535–574 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022990205200

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022990205200

Keywords

Search

Navigation