Many thanks to Sarah Hurlburt for this article from Boston University School of Public Health.
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Despite India’s economic and educational reform efforts in the last decade, the prevalence of child marriage remains high, fueling the risks of multiple unwanted pregnancies, pregnancy terminations and female sterilizations, according to a new study led by a BU School of Public Health researcher.

The study, led by Anita Raj, PhD, associate professor of Social & Behavioral Sciences at BUSPH, found that nearly half of adult Indian women, aged 20 to 24, were married before the legal age of 18, and that those child marriages were significantly associated with poor fertility outcomes, such as unwanted and terminated pregnancies, repeat childbirths in less than 24 months, and increased sterilization rates.

For full article, visit:
http://sph.bu.edu/insider/index.php?option

Many thanks to Rei Ravenholt, former Director of the Office of Population at USAID, for this paper, which is a talk he gave at the 1976 Airlie House conference on adolescent fertility, which I attended. While some of the data has changed since that time, the paper is of relevance today. The chart on page 3 showing the population growth implications of generation time and family size is of particular interest.

Demographic Implications of Adolescent Reproduction (Word doc., 177KB)

Thanks to Gretchen Pfaff, Director of Communications and Legislation for Californians for Population Stabilization, for sending this OpEd and the one that follows – both by Mark Cromer.
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OP-ED FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact:
Rick Oltman
Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS)
415- 215-9550, 805-564-6626
www.CAPSweb.org

Shameless in Sacramento
California epitomizes a failure in leadership across the nation
By Mark Cromer

Big Brother now has a fourth axiom to instill in the masses: Failure is Success.

One could easily add that to the slogans of George Orwell’s prescient 1984, as failure dressed as success is now the stagecraft that’s played out along the halls of power in Washington D.C. and in Sacramento.
Continue Reading »

Thanks to Richard Heinberg for this editorial.
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Oops!—bad timing. The announcement that California taxpayers will have to pay most of the costs for raising the famous octuplets born recently near Los Angeles is provoking widespread indignation about what is often taken to be a fundamental human right—i.e., the right to reproduce ad infinitum.

The story might have raised eyebrows a year ago or five. But the fact that the 33-year-old single, unemployed mother’s plight is capturing headlines at the very moment when the State of California is in effect declaring bankruptcy (and laying off teachers and other state workers) not only provides grist for irate radio call-ins, it also highlights a profound shift taking place just beneath the surface of our collective awareness.

For full article, visit:
http://www.postcarbon.org/zero_sum_game

Thanks to John Feeney for sending this posting from Andrew Revkin of the New York Times.
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There’s a very happy retired French teacher and tennis coach in California today. Her name is Jane Roberts. In 2002, after the Bush administration blocked $34 million Congress had approved for the United States contribution to the United Nations Population Fund, known commonly as Unfpa, she co-founded 34 Million Friends, a group trying to fill the gap $1 at a time. She wrote a book on women and human welfare, as well.

On Friday, President Obama pledged to restore that money while also signing an order reversing another move by the Bush administration that banned American government aid for family-planning organizations that, in part, promoted or conducted abortions.

For full article, visit:
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/24/

If you are expecting to be in the New York area on March 26, you may want to attend the symposium on Media and Social Change being held at Hofstra University. The flyer is attached. Neal Baer, Executive Producer of Law & Order SVU will be the luncheon speaker. The symposium is being held in the Axinn Library, which is on South Campus.

If you cannot attend, you can watch the conference proceedings streaming live online beginning at 9:15 (EDT) at www.hofstra.edu/mediasymposiumlive. Please excuse any cross postings of this announcement

Hofstra University Symposium Announcement (PDF, 153KB)

On March 25, 2009, PMC President, Bill Ryerson was interviewed on Uganda 93.3 KFM, Uganda’s #1 radio station that offers its listeners news and entertainment. The issue of population and its impact on Uganda were discussed.

PMC was recently featured in an issue of The Bridge (a weekly newspaper based in Montpelier, Vermont). PMC was highlighted in their ‘Speaking Out’ supplement that dealt with the sometimes overlooked public issue, population growth.

http://www.montpelierbridge.com/Population%20Insert.htm

Thanks to Eric Rimmer for this notice from OPT.
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OPTIMUM POPULATION TRUST

NEWS RELEASE

EARTH HEADING FOR 5 BILLION OVERPOPULATION?

Conference to discuss sustainable population levels

A conference next week will attempt to answer a question that has fascinated scientists for at least three centuries but has now taken on a new urgency – how many human beings can the Earth support?

With the earth’s population growing by 78 million – a new Germany – each year, the Optimum Population Trust has assembled a distinguished group of experts to discuss the scientific case for lowering global and national populations to environmentally sustainable levels.
Continue Reading »

Thanks to Steve Kurtz for sending this article. The introductory paragraph is from Kenn in London.
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Although blackouts, like strikes, can cause a rise in the birth rate (as in Britain in the 1970s), Uganda’s Planning Minister has got it completely the wrong way around. It is population growth that is causing the blackouts, not the other way around (not least because most of the population is still rural and not yet on mains electricity – http://countrystudies.us/uganda/48.htm). Uganda’s HEP dams, particularly at Jinja, are stretched beyond capacity. The dams simply cannot cope with the growing demand for electricity from Uganda’s growing urban population and industry, so there is electricity rationing between parts of the county (as with Kenya). Plus, the government doesn’t have the revenue to pay for the infrastructure (e.g. electricity) for this rapidly growing population (despite Uganda having perhaps most effective tax-collecting services in Africa, since Museveni came to power).

Continue Reading »