Asia-Pacific Population Journal - Volume 4, Issue 1, 1989

The notion that the “starting”, “spacing” and “stopping” patterns of reproductive behaviour take place within a particular institutional and cultural environment and respond to changes in that environment is a basic sociological orientation to socio-demographic analysis (cf. Davis and Blake, 1956; Freedman, 1961-1962 and 1975; Hawthorn, 1970; McNicoll, 1980; Lesthaeghe, 1980).

Singapore is one of the first Asian countries to have adopted a vigorous population programme as part of its socio-economic development strategy. In 1966, when the Singapore Government established the Singapore Family Planning and Population Board (SFPPB) to offer family planning services and to disseminate the small family norm, the population was growing at about 2 per cent per year and the total fertility rate (TFR) stood at 4.7. Having just separated from Malaysia, Singapore was trying hard to gain a firm political and economic footing. The withdrawal of foreign military personnel based in Singapore further aggravated the unsettling economic base. The need to curb rapid population growth was obvious, and population control was viewed as critical in balancing the available economic resources with the demands of an increasing population.

After years of persistent low levels, contraceptive prevalence in Bangladesh is beginning to rise, albeit slowly (figure 1). This occurs none too soon. Bangladesh, densely populated and poor, endures a population growth rate that is still quite high, even by third world standards.

Developments in the field of population in the Asian and Pacific region have passed through three distinct evolutionary stages over the last three decades. The 1960s was a period of awareness of population problems and development of experimental family planning programmes to counteract the rapid population growth apparent in many countries. The 1970s witnessed further development in national family planning programmes as a result of the adoption of population policies to curb population growth and to solve other related problems.