IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/prodev/v5y2005i2p115-134.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The implications of the demographic transition for women, girls and gender equality: a review of developing country evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Kirsty McNay

    (Pauling Centre for Human Sciences, University of Oxford, 58a Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6QS, UK, kirsty.mcnay@human-sciences.ox.ac.uk)

Abstract

The demographic transition has become a dramatic global phenomenon, in which most developing countries are now participating. While much has been written about the impact of women’s roles and status on the transition, significantly less has been said about the relationship in the other direction, i.e., the implications of declining mortality and fertility for women’s lives. This paper presents a review of the evidence on these consequences in developing countries. It argues that although the demographic transition is generally a positive process for women, there is not always a straightforward link to improvements in female status and gender equality.

Suggested Citation

  • Kirsty McNay, 2005. "The implications of the demographic transition for women, girls and gender equality: a review of developing country evidence," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 5(2), pages 115-134, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:prodev:v:5:y:2005:i:2:p:115-134
    DOI: 10.1191/1464993405ps109oa
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1191/1464993405ps109oa
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1191/1464993405ps109oa?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter McDonald, 2000. "Gender Equity in Theories of Fertility Transition," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 26(3), pages 427-439, September.
    2. Alaka Malwade Basu, 1999. "Fertility Decline and Increasing Gender Imbalance in India, Including a Possible South Indian Turnaround," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 30(2), pages 237-263, April.
    3. Lloyd-Sherlock, Peter, 2000. "Old Age and Poverty in Developing Countries: New Policy Challenges," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 2157-2168, December.
    4. Murthi, Mamta, 2002. "Fertility Change in Asia and Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(10), pages 1769-1778, October.
    5. Hussain, Athar, 2002. "Demographic Transition in China and its Implications," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(10), pages 1823-1834, October.
    6. Chu Junhong, 2001. "Prenatal Sex Determination and Sex‐Selective Abortion in Rural Central China," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 27(2), pages 259-281, June.
    7. Garenne, Michel & Joseph, Veronique, 2002. "The Timing of the Fertility Transition in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(10), pages 1835-1843, October.
    8. S. Philip Morgan & Sharon Stash & Herbert L. Smith & Karen Oppenheim Mason, 2002. "Muslim and Non‐Muslim Differences in Female Autonomy and Fertility: Evidence from Four Asian Countries," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 28(3), pages 515-537, September.
    9. Zeng Yi & James W. Vaupel & Xiao Zhenyu & Zhang Chunyuan & Liu Yuzhi, 2002. "Sociodemographic and Health Profiles of the Oldest Old In China," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 28(2), pages 251-273, June.
    10. Tim Dyson, 2001. "The Preliminary Demography of the 2001 Census of India," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 27(2), pages 341-356, June.
    11. Peter Lloyd-Sherlock, 1997. "Old Age and Urban Poverty in the Developing World," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-37547-5, December.
    12. Basu, Alaka Malwade, 2002. "Why does Education Lead to Lower Fertility? A Critical Review of Some of the Possibilities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(10), pages 1779-1790, October.
    13. Stephan Klasen & Claudia Wink, 2002. "A Turning Point in Gender Bias in Mortality? An Update on the Number of Missing Women," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 28(2), pages 285-312, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Scott South & Katherine Trent & Sunita Bose, 2014. "Skewed Sex Ratios and Criminal Victimization in India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 1019-1040, June.
    2. Kathryn Yount & Sarah Zureick-Brown & Nafisa Halim & Kayla LaVilla, 2014. "Fertility Decline, Girls’ Well-being, and Gender Gaps in Children’s Well-being in Poor Countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(2), pages 535-561, April.
    3. MATTHEW McCARTNEY & AISHA GILL, 2007. "From South Asia to Diaspora: Missing Women and Migration," Working Papers 152, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    4. Murthi, Mamta, 2002. "Fertility Change in Asia and Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(10), pages 1769-1778, October.
    5. Stephan Klasen, 2008. "Missing Women: Some Recent Controversies on Levels and Trends in Gender Bias in Mortality," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 168, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Kazenin, Konstantin (Казенин, Константин), 2017. "The Impact of Social Changes on Fertility in the Regions of the North Caucasus [Влияние Социальных Изменений На Рождаемость В Регионах Северного Кавказа]," Working Papers 061706, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
    7. Vani S. Kulkarni & Manoj Pandey & Raghav Gaiha, 2013. "MDGs and gender inequality," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 18813, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    8. Monica Das Gupta & Woojin Chung & Li Shuzhuo, 2009. "Evidence for an Incipient Decline in Numbers of Missing Girls in China and India," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 35(2), pages 401-416, June.
    9. Jamaica Corker & Clémentine Rossier & Lonkila Moussa Zan, 2022. "Fertility among better-off women in sub-Saharan Africa: Nearing late transition levels across the region," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 46(29), pages 849-864.
    10. Jane Golley & Rod Tyers, 2006. "Demographic Change and the Labour Supply Constraint," ANU Working Papers in Economics and Econometrics 2006-467, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics.
    11. Arup Maharatna, 2009. "Can ‘Beautiful’ Be ‘Backward’? India’s Tribes in a Long-Term Demographic Perspective," Working Papers id:2191, eSocialSciences.
    12. Smith, Lisa C. & Byron, Elizabeth M., 2005. "Is greater decisionmaking power of women associated with reduced gender discrimination in South Asia?," FCND discussion papers 200, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Scott South & Katherine Trent & Sunita Bose, 2012. "India’s ‘Missing Women’ and Men’s Sexual Risk Behavior," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 31(6), pages 777-795, December.
    14. Rebeca A. Echávarri, 2007. "The impact of sex-selective abortion technology on the evolution of postnatal gender-bias conventions," Working Papers 78, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    15. Klasen, Stephan & Wink, Claudia, 2001. "A Turning Point in Gender Bias in Mortality?," Discussion Papers in Economics 23, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    16. Rod Tyers & Jane Golley, 2006. "China's Growth to 2030: Demographic Change and the Labour Supply Constraint," PGDA Working Papers 1106, Program on the Global Demography of Aging.
    17. Dieudonne Ndaruhuye Muhoza, 2019. "The heterogeneous effects of socioeconomic and cultural factors on fertility preferences: evidence from Rwanda and Kenya," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 347-363, December.
    18. Claus C Pörtner, 2010. "Sex Selective Abortions, Fertility and Birth Spacing," Working Papers UWEC-2010-04-R, University of Washington, Department of Economics, revised Aug 2010.
    19. Alexander Stimpfle & David Stadelmann, 2016. "Does Central Europe Import the Missing Women Phenomenon?," CREMA Working Paper Series 2016-04, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    20. Basu, Alaka & Desai, Sonalde, 2016. "Hopes, Dreams and Anxieties: India’s One-Child Families," MPRA Paper 117304, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:prodev:v:5:y:2005:i:2:p:115-134. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.