West Indian gender relations, family planning programs and fertility decline

Abstract

Nearly all West Indian islands initiated marked fertility declines sometime between 1960 and 1970. Family planning programs have not played an important role in these declines. Neither have other variables that conventional social theory tells us should promote reduced family sizes, like education and rising standards of living. The historical experience of Barbados and Antigua, which reached replacement-level fertility in the 1980s, suggests that West Indian fertility declines reflect structural changes in national economies that created job opportunities for women. Family planning programs need to be evaluated with reference to the distinctive health and human rights goals other than fertility transition that they can effectively reach.