Birthrate Found Hard To Assess

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30737, 29 April 1965, Page 24

Birthrate Found Hard To Assess

<N.Z. Press association — Copyright) CANBERRA. April 27. An official document today indirectly referred to the pill in an analysis of factors affecting the future population and workforce.

Family planning ideas and techniques made the future trend in the birthrate “extremely uncertain,” the document said. The paper was issued by the Commonwealth Treasury. In its own words, the Treasury “threw a beam of light” into the next decade to see how the work-force might be affected. But the study could never wholly illuminate the situation as it might then be, the bulletin said.

According to the project, the work force could be just under six million in 1976, compared with the 4.3 million estimate of 1963. Of the six million, about 1.700,000 would be females.

The document said. “Many factors influence and tend to

induce changes in fertility rates. “Economic conditions, including employment opportunities—both for the husband and wife —have in the past at least had considerable influence. “The post-war success in maintaining standards of full employment may well have had a very important effect in changing pre-war attitudes towards optimum family size. “Social attitudes have also been influential in this regard. “The spread of family planning ideas and techniques and improvements in these techniques, has played a role in producing changes in the size of families.”