The big idea: Gender equality and fertility are tightly linked.
When women gain education, jobs and rights, families tend to have fewer children — so fertility falls.
Governments then use population policies either to raise births (pro-natal) or lower them (anti-natal), and many also run policies to advance gender equality.
Key terms
- Fertility rate — the average number of children a woman has during her lifetime.
- Gender equality — women and men having equal rights, opportunities and status.
- Pro-natal policy — a policy that encourages more births (e.g. baby bonuses, parental leave).
- Anti-natal policy — a policy that discourages births to slow population growth.
Turning women's status into lower fertility
- Education — girls who stay in school marry later and have children later, shortening the childbearing years.
- Paid work — women in careers face an opportunity cost to having children, so they choose smaller families.
- Decision-making power — when women control household choices, they can plan and limit family size.
- Health & family planning — better access to contraception lets women choose to have fewer children.
Develop the point: Suggest/Explain needs development — don't just say 'women are educated'; say educated -> marry later -> fewer children.
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Two kinds of policy: Governments manage natural population change with pro-natal policies (to raise low fertility) or anti-natal policies (to slow fast growth). Many also run gender-equality policies, which often lower fertility as a side effect.
Real examples (named, original wording)
- France — generous parental leave and child benefits (pro-natal) to lift a low fertility rate.
- Singapore — switched from anti-natal in the 1970s to pro-natal incentives once fertility fell too far.
- Rwanda — legal quotas put women in over half of parliament seats, advancing gender equality.
- Bangladesh — community family-planning workers raised contraception use and lowered fertility.
How this is tested: Paper 2 Q4 often gives a gender infographic (percentages of women in work, education or politics).
You Estimate/Determine a value off it, Explain a suitable presentation technique, then Evaluate how well the evidence supports a claim (e.g. that a country has achieved gender equality).
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Women working in the public sector | 66% |
| University graduates who are women | 70% |
| University graduates who are men | 30% |
| Women among STEM graduates | 56% |
| Women in the national parliament | 50% |
IB-style question — read the infographic
Using the data above: (a) estimate the share of women working in the public sector [1]; (b) determine the percentage of university graduates who are men [1]; (c) suggest one presentation technique to display the graduate split [2].
How to answer each part
- (a) Estimate the public-sector share. Read the row -> about 66% of public-sector workers are women.
- (b) Determine the male graduate share. Women are 70% of graduates, so men are 100 - 70 = 30%.
- (c) Suggest a technique. A pie chart (or divided bar) shows the 70%/30% split as proportions of a whole, so the gender gap is seen at a glance.
Final answer
(a) ~66%; (b) 30%; (c) a pie or divided bar chart, because it shows each share as part of the whole.