Low fertility and population replacement in Scotland

It has been argued that Scotland faces population ageing and decline that will have potentially serious economic and social consequences, and that the origin of these processes lie in its low and declining fertility rates. After considering alternatives to the total period rate measure of fertility,...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: MacInnes, John, Pérez Díaz, Julio
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión enviada para evaluación y publicación
Fecha de publicación:2006
País:España
Recursos:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/7069
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/7069
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Reproduction
Fertility
Natalism
Scotland
Descrição
Resumo:It has been argued that Scotland faces population ageing and decline that will have potentially serious economic and social consequences, and that the origin of these processes lie in its low and declining fertility rates. After considering alternatives to the total period rate measure of fertility, empirical evidence and theoretical argument about low fertility and its consequences is briefly reviewed. The paper argues that low fertility in general may not be the problem it is often purported to be, that Scotland has relatively high fertility, and that pro-natalist policies are neither desirable nor necessary. It suggests that low fertility and population ageing may be viewed as positive developments, and that within Europe, Scotland is distinguished more by its excess of early deaths than by any shortage of births.