Low fertility and fertility policies in the Asia-Pacific region
Open accessAbstract
Declining fertility is an increasing global trend. In many low fertility contexts, people are having fewer children then they want, and these unfulfilled fertility desires have been associated with wider socio-economic changes in education and labour force participation and conflicting and often contradictory expectations of women at home and at work. The right to determine if, when and how one has children is enshrined in international law yet many policies responses to low fertility fail to meet these standards. This paper summarizes why people in the Asia-Pacific region are having fewer children than they desire, and the range of policy responses, particularly those that make life easier for working parents. This raises two important points. First, we need to contend to the gender dynamics that underpin this in the region, despite gradual changes in women's roles, they are still seen as "caregivers" and undertake a disproportionate amount of unpaid care work, often having to lean-out of their employment, and/or face gender discrimination in the workplace. Second, the "emergency" of low fertility arises from complex social and economic conditions that cannot be solved by population policies solely focused on making babies.
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The effect of parental leave on fertility may be dampened by broader institutions and social norms such as long working hours and limited workplace support.
“there are also suggestions that this effect may be dampened by broader institutions and social norms such as long working hours and limited workplace support (Boydell et al. 2023; Rindfuss and Choe 2016).”
From Family Policies in Low Fertility Countries: Evidence and Reflections (2025) · cites this paper as Boydell et al. 2023
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Boydell, V., Mori, R., Shahrook, S., & Gietel-Basten, S.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Kyoto University (JP)
- Hamilton Health Sciences (CA)
- Stuart Gietel-Basten, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
- Venue
- Global Health & Medicine
- Published
- 2023-10-31
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 271-277
- ISSN
- 2434-9186 (ISSN-L)
- 2434-9194
- PMC
- PMC10615026
- OpenAlex
- W4387789622
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 2.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Global Health & Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Policies and Family
- Keywords
- low fertility, fertility decline, fertility policy, Asia-Pacific region, gender dynamics, unpaid care work, women's labour force participation, right to family planning, gender discrimination in employment, working parents, population policy
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