Understanding responses in 18 countries

Falling fertility and rising life expectancy are changing the age structure of populations all over the world. Many economically advanced countries with persistent levels of low fertility are experiencing declining proportions of children and working-age adults and growing populations of older persons, drastically changing population age structures and leading eventually to population decline. In the history of the world, this is a new phenomenon with profound, and little understood, implications for a broad range of policies and programs. Affected areas include labor markets, education and training, social security, healthcare systems, and housing markets, among others.

A three-year East-West Center project on falling fertility levels included a United Nations Expert Group Meeting on Policy Responses to Low Fertility, held on 2-3 November 2015 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The purpose of the expert group meeting was to broaden the discussion by involving a larger group of policymakers, academics, and representatives of selected UN agencies and international organizations. The meeting distilled lessons learned and provided policy guidance for countries that are experiencing low fertility and population aging, and for those that are likely to face these challenges in the not too distant future. More information on the expert group meeting is available at http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/events/expert-group/24/index.shtml.

In conjunction with this expert meeting, the East-West Center and the United Nations Population Division published a series of policy briefs on low fertility and related institutions and policies in 18 countries around the world.

Related Projects
Policy Responses to Low Fertility: An International Comparative Study

Related Staff
Ronald R. Rindfuss
Minja Kim Choe
Vinod Mishra
Sidney B. Westley