How 21st Century Population Issues and Policies Differ from Those of the 20th Century

Abstract

Population issues and population policies have evolved considerably between the 20th and the 21st centuries. In the 1970s, most countries confronted rapid population growth, and this situation was particularly severe in Asia. Today, on the contrary, more than half of the world population is experiencing low fertility and population aging, and several countries with very low fertility are facing the prospect of depopulation. Only one region, i.e., sub-Saharan Africa, still experiences high fertility levels. Similarly, the discussions about whether and how to intervene on population trends have also evolved over the past 70 years. Demographically focused approaches to family planning provision were dominant views in the second half of the 20th century. However, since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994, international population policy paradigms have been reframed to stress the freedom of couples and the reproductive rights of individuals. Consequently, policy interventions have favored client-focused and gender-sensitive approaches. Finally, to help chart the way forward, population policies will need to consider several key elements, broadening from a focus on support for family planning to an array of policy instruments including health, education, and culture, all of which shape future populations. This new policy framework includes the prioritization of interventions, policy consensus building, the selection of priority constituencies, the institutionalization and funding of policies, and the promotion of evidence-based and research-driven policies. In addition, in order to adapt their interventions to local contexts, population policies will need to be holistic, to promote integrated interventions, and to align with international development frameworks.

Immigrant Consumption Behaviors: A Systematic Integrative Review and Future Research Agenda

“…The paper proposes a variety of critical research directions from thrust areas, contexts, and reviews based on the current thematic evolution and keyword-burst analysis. (1) This paper provides an overview of the literature in the ICB area, (2) identifies research priorities, emerging trends, and gaps, (3) proposes new research avenues for investigation, and (4) describes expected contributions. As ICB studies are multidisciplinary in nature, they provide new knowledge for a variety of disciplines.…”

“…Over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries, population issues and population policies have evolved significantly. The rapid growth of the global population, which was framed as the central issue of population policy during the second half of the 20th century, has now started to slow [1]. International migration has become increasingly prevalent in our increasingly interconnected world [2].…”

“…As a result of these approaches, the above-mentioned gaps will be filled by systematizing the scientific accomplishments related to ICBs, providing a comprehensive overview of the latest fragmented literature and developing future research avenues. This objective was achieved by establishing four objectives: (1) to identify all articles that exist in accredited scholarly databases, such as WoS and Scopus, that are influencing the intellectual structure of the field of ICBs, (2) to identify the clusters, sub-clusters, and sub-sub-clusters of publications associated with a particular topic, (3) to identify emerging development paths represented by each thematic cluster, as well as their theoretical foundations and strategic principles, and (4) to forecast future research directions. Taking this into account, this review study was conducted to answer four research questions: (1) What are the current publication and citation trends in ICB research?…”