Population and poverty: The situation in Asia and the pacific

Abstract

Although the concept of absolute poverty is well accepted, a broader understanding of poverty requires the consideration of factors such as "poverty of access" and "social exclusion". Poverty in the ESCAP region is heavily concentrated in South Asia. Economic growth is key to the alleviation of poverty, although distributional aspects are also important. There are clear correlations between lower fertility and lower rates of population growth on the one hand, and a lower incidence of poverty, although causal relationships can go both ways. Recent analysis of economic-demographic relationships has emphasized the "window of opportunity" represented by age structure changes consequent on declines in fertility. Some of the specific sectoral relationships between population trends and poverty are outlined briefly in this paper. Education is particularly crucial to poverty alleviation, and the decline in fertility throughout the region has facilitated the meeting of educational goals. However, public expenditure on education has, in many cases, served to widen the gap between the rich and the poor. Similar arguments can be made about the health sector. There are gender elements in these problems. In countries where female access to education is not on a par with that of males, where female employment is restricted, and where unmet need for family planning is high, economic growth is held back and prospects for lifting people out of poverty are poorer. The paper recommends adoption of specifically pro-poor approaches in educational and health planning, specifically pro-poor approaches for women and the need to focus on meeting unmet need for family planning.