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The Contraceptive Revolution

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International Handbook of Population Policies

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 11))

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Abstract

Sharp falls in mortality in low- and middle-income countries following World War II ushered in an era of unprecedented increase in world population. Alarm was expressed about the ability of poor nations to feed their growing populations and the danger that poverty would be perpetuated. The policy response, most clearly evident in Asia, was a totally new form of social engineering: state promotion of contraception to reduce birth rates. Later on, other rationales for family planning promotion gained more prominence, notably the health benefits for women and children and the achievement of women’s empowerment and gender equality. This chapter assesses the progress achieved in the past 50 years to trigger the contraceptive revolution. Though contraceptive use worldwide has risen dramatically since 1960, the drivers of reproductive change have been very different between countries and regions. In most Asian countries, strong, indeed sometimes coercive, state policies and programs are central to an explanation while in most of Latin America, the role of the state was modest. The nature of programs also varied, as did emphases on particular methods of contraception. In some settings, contraceptive and health services have always been thoroughly integrated while in others they were largely independent of each other. A variety of innovative means of increasing access to contraceptive services and products have been tried; these include social marketing, community-based distribution, social franchising and financial compensation and incentives. Finally, the chapter also examines the future challenges of expanding access to family planning and related reproductive health services around the world but particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where the need is greatest.

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  1. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), London, UK

    John Cleland

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  1. Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University, Arlington, VA, USA

    John F. May

  2. Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University, Arlington, VA, USA

    Jack A. Goldstone

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Cleland, J. (2022). The Contraceptive Revolution. In: May, J.F., Goldstone, J.A. (eds) International Handbook of Population Policies. International Handbooks of Population, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-02040-7_27

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