Indonesian Demographic Transition Essay -- Population Control

Introduction The effects of population control programs on demographic change were not instant, and it takes long serious effort to encourage the improvement of economic development in a country. According to Paul J. Gertler (1994, p. 33), â€Å"Population control is a key element in a country’s ability to maintain and improve its economic and social welfare†. Furthermore, this paper intends to explain why the change of population structure has an effect on the society’s economic condition in Indonesia with examining the demographic variables. This short paper is aimed to support the hypothesis that the demographic variables are important influential factors on the economic development and significantly affect on the social welfare in Indonesia. Therefore, the paper proceed with examining the demographic transition from 1970 to 2000 in the change of population structure, and also considering the population control program which enhances the economic development. In order to understand the relationship between population control program and the improvement of the social welfare, this paper will focus on how its relationship with the age structure, population density and the life expectancy. Background The population control program in Indonesia has come a long way since it was established by the Indonesian government in the late 1960s. The Indonesian family planning (FP) program which is held by the National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN) has implemented the concept of how to form happy and prosperous families as a means to improve family welfare. However, the concept was not separated from the main purpose of the population control program, which basically focuses on the contraceptives’ use in order to reduce the fe... ...e can understand the reason why the change of population structure has an effect on the society’s economic condition. The changes in age structure in Indonesia shows the significant increase in the productive age which leads to the increase of the labor force, and also shows the increase in women participation in labor force. The life expectancy can be used for evaluating the government performance (family planning program) in improving family resilience and institutionalizing quality of small family. Lastly, the population density is an important factor to evaluate the society's quality of live. Finally, this paper has shown that the society's welfare has generally placed on the role of demographic variables in economic growth and there is a significant relationship between population control program and the improvement of the society’s welfare in Indonesia.