Sri Lanka's population policies, which the government has promoted since 1977, have achieved positive results. The policies are directed at the country's rapid population growth (an increase of 500% in the last 100 years), population distribution (concentration in the western coastal belt), population composition (46% are younger than age 20), and attendant health problems, especially for women and children. The government provides family planning services to all who seek such services. It educates the people on the implications of population growth for national development and the health implications of having too many children without adequate spacing. The government is developing the country's dry zone and suburban towns to reduce population pressures in urban areas. Conditions for women have improved with equal education and employment opportunities. Underlying the policy of improved education for women is the belief that women's age at marriage will thereby be increased, fertility rates will be reduced, and the health of children and mothers will be promoted. The government also aims to further reduce infant and child mortality rates through a program promoting child immunization, growth weight monitoring, and breast-feeding. Achievements of the government's policies include a 5% decline in total number of births from 1982 to 1985, a decline in the crude birth rate from 30/1000 in the late 1970s to 24.6/1000 in 1985, and an increase in acceptance rates for all family planning methods from 34% in 1975 to 55% in 1982.
Development is a complex process that has no universal laws to guide it. However, there is widespread agreement that population growth is a crucial factor in the process of social and economic development. Population growth is not always in itself detrimental to development, especially in some developed countries where there are economies of scale and sufficient human and physical capital for new investments. Developing countries face an environment that is less favorable for economic growth than did the developed countries of the past. The major problem lies in the extended time lag between population increases on the 1 hand and technological advances and adaptations on the other hand. In populations that are not equipped to make the necessary technological and infrastructural changes, even moderate population growth can arrest the development process. The transfer or adaptation of new technologies requires time, money, and other structural changes. Moreover, rapid population growth reduces the proportion of household savings, making less money available for per capita investment in both physical and human capital. At the family level, less time and money are available for child development. At the societal level, it becomes more difficult to finance the physical and human investments necessary for sustained economic growth. Under the best conditions, a developing Asian country can expect to achieve better economic performance in the longterm if the population has moderate growth, doubling over a 50-year period. While a slower rate of growth can accelerate development, it introduces a host of new social problems such as providing security to the elderly.
Sri Lanka's population growth rate declined from 2.8% in 1953 to 1.7% in 1981. This achievement was a result of a political commitment on the part of the Sri Lankan Government to population control, a sound organizational and administrative structure, and socioeconomic changes that facilitated acceptance of small family size. Communication and educational campaigns played a key supportive role in this effort. There was a strong mass media campaign aimed at motivating the population to practice family planning and population communication skills were taught to field workers. In the future, 5 areas of population communication will receive special attention: 1) development of communication programs closely linked to family planning service delivery; 2) development of training materials to improve the communication skills of development extension workers; 3) media research and evaluation; 4) integration of population communication with communication programs in areas such as agriculture; and 5) further development of all forms of mass media. The major challenge facing family planning in Sri Lanka is the gap between awareness and practice. While support for the concept of fertility control has almost universal acceptance, the actual contraceptive prevalence rate is only about 50%. This contradiction requires highly creative communication programs that integrate the mass media with interpersonal channels of communication to promote the use of modern methods of contraception.
The point to be made in this article about the changing demography of Sri Lanka is that demographic conditions (an older population and growth rate of 1.6) are favorable for economic growth. Planning for economic growth is demonstrated in discussing trends and their relationship to economic development rather than providing a macroeconomic analysis. The 1st demographic characteristic of importance is the age structure of the population, which identifies labor force potential, dependents, and those not economically active in order to calculate required social services. Consumer expenditure patterns are affected, as well as educational costs. The rapid mortality decline of the 1940's and the high fertility up to the 1960's created a broad based age structure that swelled student populations and labor force (unemployment). The 1980's is marked by 39% 15 years in 1981 versus 35% in 1971, and 6.4$ 60 years in 1981 versus 6.6% in 1971. Anticipated trends based on either 2.1, 2.5, or 2.9 children/mother indicate that the population structure would remain the same except for those 0-14 years. This amounts to 20-21.3 million by 2001 and 5.5-6.7 million 15 years. Economic planning is affected by the following age groups: preschoolers, school age children, working population, and old age population. A gradual decline in preschoolers would eventually lead to a 9% population versus a 13% in 2001. 23% of the current population of 5-14 year olds will decrease after 1996 with slow or medium growth to 19-21%. The next 2 decades will experience a swelling of the working age population from 9.56 million to 12.7 million, which was 15 years ago the total population figure. The rate change is from 58.2% to 60-63%. By 2001 the 60 year old population will be 9% (1.8 million) or equal to those 5 years. Attention, thus, needs to be paid to the equitability of distribution of services and improvement in quality rather than expansion. New jobs need to be created to prevent high unemployment, with a demand reaching, by the year 2000, 75,000/year. Transportation, housing, internal movement and overcrowding of cities by migrant workers are other areas to be addressed. With a rising population reaching early retirement of 55 years, many would be dependents without pensions or retirement benefits. More women comprise this group since life expectancy is 70.5 years versus 67.5. More women comprise this group since life expectancy is 70/.5 years versus 67.5. If the output/capital ratio of 0.25 at 1.6 growth rate could be increased with a 20% or greater investment, which means an annual growth rate of per capita product of 3-4%, economic development would be enhanced.
