Population Disparities Assessment

Population Disparities Assessment

1. STAGE 2

   • Guatemala
     • GDP
       • 75.62 billion ( 2017 )
       • The poorest 40 percent of the country's 15 million citizens lived on just $1.50 per day in 2012
         • World Bank report entitled "Guatemala Economic DNA
       • a key reason why the poor are getting poorer is that the government collects few taxes which causes poor infrastructure and slow growth
       • people don't have formal jobs or businesses and aren't registered with tax authorities. Tax evasion by registered businesses is also a big problem.
       • It's the only country in Latin America where the poor have been getting even poorer.
     • Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
       • 73 years ( 2016 )
       • The more children a woman gives birth to, the lower her life expectancy gets
         • Dora Ileana Orellana (PBS interviewed)
           • "My body can't hold children anymore. I'm too weak. Already, I have headaches. My bones hurt. And I'm worn out from housework."
           • "My mother had 13 children. But times are harder now. Everything is really expensive. And sometimes I'm in trouble because I have no money to feed my family."
     • Fertility rate
       • 2.97 births per women ( 2016 )
     • Adolescent fertility rate (births per 1,000 women ages 15-19)
       • Many girls and women have unwanted pregnancies due to lack of information about sex and their own bodies and endemic violence
       • 1990, 5.4
       • 2000, 4.6
       • 2010, 3.4
       • 20116, 3.0
       • Ignorance about reproduction is rooted in traditional culture and teachings of religion, where girls learn that talk of sex is shameful and forbidden
     • Contraceptive prevalence, any methods (% of women ages 15-49)
       • 1990, 23
       • 2000, 38
       • 2010, 54
       • 2016, 61
       • The modern contraceptive prevalence rate is 44%
         • Does not respond to the needs of 20.8% of women with regard to family planning
         • this figure doubles among indigenous women.
     • Education
       • In Guatemala, education for women is a privilege
         • Despite primary education is compulsory and provided for free by the government, the average years of school attended by women is 4.1 years.
         • Close to 25 percent of the population is illiterate, with rates more than 60 percent in the indigenous population.
         • Indigenous girls in Guatemala are among the country’s most disadvantaged group with limited schooling, early marriage, frequent childbearing, and chronic poverty.
       • Many classrooms, especially in rural Guatemala, do not have adequate teaching materials.
       • Many children – especially rural and indigenous children – are forced to drop out of school to help support their families or because they are unable to afford the cost of uniforms, books, supplies and transportation.
     • Child brides
       • girls are getting married in rural indigenous communities that are unaware of the ban and see the practice as acceptable
       • indigenous girls are often married off so families have one less mouth to feed
       • deprives girls of education, keeps them in poverty and puts them at risk of domestic and sexual violence, experts say.
     • Adult mortality rate between age 15 and 60
       • Deaths per 100 population in 2015
       • 35.8

2. STAGE 3

   • Kenya
     • GDP
       • 79.2 billion (2017)
     • Fertility rate, total (births per woman)
       • Kenya's fertility rate has decreased from eight children per woman to four children per woman over the last 37 years
       • 1990, 6.1
       • 2000, 5.2
       • 2010, 4.4
       • 2017, 3.9
       • Population experts from the World Bank attribute the decline in fertility to a considerable rise in the use of family planning methods.
         • A study published by the Population Reference Bureau in 2015, attributes the drop in total fertility rate to a higher literacy level particularly among women
           • Late marriages, and lifestyle change. Total fertility rate represents the possible number of children that can be born to a woman during her childbearing years
     • Life expectancy at birth, total (years)
       • 67
     • Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of population)
       • 44% of the population in Kenya live in poverty
       • Healthcare, education, clean water and sanitation, are luxuries for many living in Kenya.
       • Another reason that Kenya is and remains poor is that about 75 % of the population relies on agriculture to make a living.
         • Yet Kenya’s erratic weather and arid climate make it a very unstable living to rely on.
       • The lack of economic diversity, opportunity, and education along with rapid population growth are crippling for the average citizen.
       • 36.1%
         • Positive note
           • The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund consider Kenya on the right path to economic growth. This is due to investments in Kenya’s infrastructure, and the country’s role as a regional business hub
     • Contraceptive prevalence, any methods (% of women ages 15-49)
       • 1990, 27
       • 2000, 39
       • 2010, 46
       • 2017, 62
       • Kenya's fertility rate has decreased from eight children per woman to four children per woman over the last 37 years
         • Population experts from the World Bank attribute the decline in fertility to a considerable rise in the use of family planning methods.
           • A study published by the Population Reference Bureau in 2015, attributes the drop in total fertility rate to a higher literacy level particularly among women
       • People in Kenya prefer to have fewer children and take better care of the ones they have

3. STAGE4

   • China
     • GDP
       • 12.2 trillion
     • Fertility rate, total (births per woman)
       • 1990 2.4
       • 2000 1.5
       • 2010 1.6
       • 2017 1.6
       • Many couples in China are reluctant to have children because they cannot afford to pay for health care and education amid surging property prices
         • China allowed urban couples to have two children in 2016, replacing a one-child policy in place since 1979, with policymakers wary of falling birth rates and a rapidly growing aging population.
       • The birth rate will continue to decline from 2018 onwards In the next 10 years
       • , the number of Chinese women aged 23-30 will decrease by 40%
       • A huge drop in this child-bearing age group In 10 years' time, there will only be about 8 million births per year
     • Contraceptive prevalence, any methods (% of women ages 15-49)
       • 1990 85%
       • 2000 84%
       • 2010 89%
       • 2017, ...

4. STAGE 5

   • Japan
     • GPU
       • 4.87 trillion
     • Fertility rate, total (births per woman)
       • 1990 1.5
       • 2000 1.4
       • 2010 1.4
       • 2017, 1.4
       • The blame has long been put on Japan’s young people, who are accused of not having enough sex
         • Japan’s birth rate may be falling because there are fewer good opportunities for young people
           • Men are expected to be breadwinners and to support family. However,good jobs may be creating a class of men who don’t marry and have children because they—and their potential partners—know they can’t afford to.
     • Amount of Japanese married during 2017
       • approximately 607,000 couples tied the knot during that period
         • 13,000 less than the same time frame in 2016.
     • Employment
       • Nearly one quarter of Japanese companies require employees to work more than 80 hours of overtime a month, according to a 2016 government survey.
       • The term "karoshi" translates to "death by overwork" in Japanese, and is a legal term recognized as a cause of death.
         • Since the postwar years, Japan had a tradition of “regular employment,” a job guranteed to grant good benefits, dependable raises and kept job
           • around 40% of the Japanese workforce is “irregular,” meaning they don’t work for companies where they have stable jobs for their whole careers, and instead piece together temporary and part-time jobs with low salaries and no benefits
             • In a culture that places such an emphasis on men being breadwinners, this has serious implications for marriage and childbearing
               • Men who don’t have regular jobs are not considered desirable marriage partners; even if a couple wants to get married, and both have irregular jobs, their parents will likely oppose it
                 • Women seeking full-time work frequently find themselves in irregular jobs too, which also has implications for raising a family, since the hours are unpredictable and the pay is low.