Fertility refers to the number of children a woman has on average during the years she can reproduce. Social stability is where there's social solidarity between the people and they work together to make society better. The reduction in the fertility as a population control policy is necessary to maintain social stability. However there are other policies that are necessary when it comes to maintaining social stability.
The fertility rate is one of the main contributors to a population's size and growth. In 2013 the world population reached 7. 2 billion people and according to the medium variant, the projected figure for 2050 is 9.6 billion persons.
Most of the growth is projected to come from developing countries, the category which most of the islands in Caribbean fall into. The world's population in 2050 would be substantially higher if the decline in fertility projected fails to be realized. If fertility were to remain constant at current levels in all countries, world population would increase significantly, reaching 11. 1 billion by 2050. Hence reduction in fertility should be made a policy and also be taken seriously. The Caribbean country, Jamaica has put a policy in place which includes having a higher Contraceptive Prevalence Rate.
Thomas Malthus stated that one day, due to rapid growth of the population, the food supply would be exhausted. If such a policy is not implemented, this may come to pass. However it cannot be said for sure that fertility rates would decrease, other policies should be put in place if Malthus' prediction is not to come to pass. One policy that can be paid closer attention to is a Food Security.
Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their daily needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.Therefore making sure that there is always a food supply may involve an active and stable agricultural sector, especially in developing countries. Despite all the good that may arise from a fertility policy, there are also disadvantages. If there is a reduction in fertlity, then birth rates will fall.
As a result of this family sizes may shrink and therefore populations will either grow very slowly or will begin to decease. This affects the size of the ageing population in a society. This can affect the social stability because there are certain functions within a society that cannot be fulfilled by the elderly in society.Thus due to a shrinking able bodied workforce, productivity and profitability can be affected and in a negative way. At the same time the growing of the ageing population threatens the stability of pension and insurance systems.
As household sizes get smaller, the ability to care for the elderly weakens. Therefore elderly people are now dealing with healthcare needs and costs which they may not be able to provide for themselves, due to certain disabilities, whether it be physical or social.These can pose significant barriers to the societal achievement of goals of economic growth or social cohesion. Another policy that can be focused on to maintain social stability is migration policies. This includes both external and internal migration.
Migration can be a tool that regulates a population. External migration can help to reduce unemployment, ensure the availability of skilled manpower, and increase the return flow of skills and resources to meet the development needs of the country. The level of emigration is an important check on population growth.Also internal migration is to achieve and ensure a balance between the spacial distribution of the population and that of development which may include investment programmes and projects. It is also necessary to ensure that the spread of population and resources is such as to minimize the adverse effects on the environment.
In conclusion reduction in fertility can be introduced as a policy to ensure social control but it has its disadvantages. However other policies such as contraceptive provision, food security policies and migration policies can aid in achieving social control.
