Gender equity in theories of fertility transition1

The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development placed issues of gender at the centre of discussion of population and development (United Nations 1995). The leading theme of the conference was that, in less developed countries, higher levels of gender equity are a necessary component in the achievement of lower fertility. In apparent contradiction with the 1994 ICPD, I have postulated that very low fertility in advanced countries today is the outcome of a conflict or inconsistency between high gender equity in individualoriented social institutions and sustained gender inequity in family-oriented social institutions (McDonald 1997). The implication is that higher levels of gender equity in family-oriented social institutions are necessary to avoid very low fertility. Thus, on one hand, a higher level of gender equity in social institutions is claimed to lead to lower fertility while, on the other hand, a reorientation of social institutions towards a higher level of gender equity is claimed to prevent very low fertility. The paper addresses this apparent contradiction through consideration of more generalised theory of gender equity in fertility transition.