VI. Political and Diplomatic Issues of the Population Problem 



In the LDCs 



Despite the persuasive logic, at tlie national level, of applying 

 restraints to the multiplication of populations, powerful economic and 

 cultural forces resist the implementation of national policy in villages 

 and households. Administrative resources and skills in the govern- 

 ments of the LDCs are quickly overtaxed and their efforts tend to be 

 modulated by fear of antagonizing the electorates. A dllferent prob- 

 lem confronts the United States. There seems to be a clear perception 

 in this country of the need to achieve a food/population balance, and of 

 the need for population measures in particular in those countries receiv- 

 ing U.S. assistance. However, bilateral programs of aid conditioned on 

 population measures run the risk of engendering hostility among 

 populations of recipient countries as well as a sense of frustration 

 among their leaders. It is possible that a more promising approach to 

 the population problem is by the combining of resources of developed 

 and underdeveloped countries alike in multilateral programs under 

 U.N. or regional sponsorship. However undertaken, the invasion of 

 this sensitive and deeply emotional issue is fraught with great dif- 

 ficulties. Only the vital necessity of solving the problem justifies the 

 attempt. 



Social Resistance to Birth Control and Family Planning Programs 



Probably the main hurdle to the successful implementation of birth 

 control and family planning programs in the LDCs is the system of 

 (cultural and social values that confront these programs. That system 

 has traditionally placed a premium on large numbers of children for 

 reli^ous, economic, and societal reasons. 



the status of women 



One reason why women in the LDCs lack motivation to take the pill 

 regularly, or employ other contraceptive methods, is that in traditional 

 societies such as those that prevail in Asia and Africa, a woman^s . 

 prime obligation is to provide sons for her husband. A childless 

 woman bears a stigma, and an unmarried one may be even less well ; 

 regarded. In India, the expression "Two hands, one mouth" epitomizes 

 the usefulness that children are thought to have as potential agri- 

 cultural workers, producing more than they consume and thereby 

 enriching the farm family. Children, particularly sons, in a country 

 without old age insurance constitute a form of social security. 



The more children a woman bears, the more assurance she has that 

 she will be taken care of in her old age. Social and economic pressures 

 thus militate in the direction of high fertility, and the ordinary woman ^ 

 has little incentive to resist these pressures. Indeed, studies made in ■ 

 Asia, Africa, and Latin America suggest that couples in a number of 

 countries consider four to eight children to be an ideal number, de- ; 



(834) 



