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The fertility transition in Cuba and the Federal Republic of Korea: the impact of organised family planning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Jeanne Noble
Affiliation:
Center for Latin American Studies, California, USA
Malcolm Potts
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA

Summary

South Korea and Cuba are dissimilar in religion, economy, culture and attitudes toward premarital sexual relations. In 1960, Korea instituted a national family planning programme to combat rapid population growth. Cuba explicitly rejected Malthusian policies, but made family planning universally available in 1974 in response to health needs. Both countries have undergone rapid fertility declines and today have less than replacement level fertility. Both countries have also used a similar mixture of methods, including a high prevalence of female sterilisation. Abortion has played a major role in the fertility decline of both countries, rising in the first half of the fertility transition and then falling, although remaining a significant variable in the second half. It is concluded that access to contraception, voluntary sterilisation, and safe abortion has a direct impact on fertility and has been associated with a rapid fall in family size in two very different countries.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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