Brazilian demography and the fall in fertility in Brazil: Contributions, mistakes and silences

Abstract

Since the late 1960s the Brazilian population has gone through a very rapid decline in fertility. In just three decades the overall annual fertility fell from 5.8 to only 2.3. The present article analyzes the positions of the experts in the field of population studies regarding this phenomenon. To understand their positions and attitudes, the international context during the 1960s and 1970s must be taken into account, polarized as it was by the tension between the socialist and the capitalist blocks. The majority of Brazilian social scientists, opponents of neo-Malthusianism, were against any type of presence of the State in the field of human reproduction. They held two strong convictions: 1) there was no demand for contraception in Brazilian society and 2) the pace of the Brazilian population growth, as well as the size of the country’s population, were “neutral,” from the standpoint of the welfare of individuals. This ideological debate has since become outdated. The changes in fertility in Brazil are quite advanced. However, some women, especially the poorest, still receive no information about or access to the means needed to plan the number of children they wish to have. On the other hand, Brazilian society is also failing to take advantage of opportunities created by the fall in fertility, and is not preparing itself to face the new challenges resulting from this very fall. Many demographers and population researchers are still “silent” as to these aspects.