Full Description
Despite the twenty-first century's often being referred to as the Asian Century-indicating hope for economic growth and the rebalancing of the global order-population aging and stagnation present an existential threat to the success of China and other territories of Pacific Asia (namely Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea). This book argues that the "population problem," rooted in low fertility, has thus far been largely considered in a linear way: low fertility leads to population stagnation and rapid aging, so fixing low fertility should correct the problem. However, a multi-dimensional lens is essential to appreciating the scale and nature of the issue-and, indeed, to determining whether it is an issue at all. Stuart Gietel-Basten examines how the issue of low fertility has been constructed, how blame has been apportioned, and why policies designed to tackle it have yielded few results. Drawing on an array of primary and secondary sources as well as examples from scholarly and popular literature,The "Population Problem" in Pacific Asia takes a comparative approach to fertility in the region and locates mainland China in its regional context. It serves as a useful resource for government workers, stakeholders, and students and scholars in sociology, demography, geography, economics, and area studies.
Contents
Chapter 1. Economic Boom, Demographic Bomb?
Chapter 2. Low Fertility, Population Decline, and Aging: Pacific Asia's "Population Problem"
Chapter 3. Towards a Multidimensional Measurement of Fertility in Pacific Asia?
Chapter 4. Fertility Preferences in Low-Fertility Pacific Asia
Chapter 5. Why Does the Two-Child Ideal Turn into a One-Child Intention?
Chapter 6. Childlessness and the Retreat from Marriage"
Chapter 7. The Two-Child Policy: China's Silver Bullet?
Chapter 8. Towards a Holistic View of Childbearing in China
Chapter 9. Conclusions
