World Population Policies 2021: Policies related to fertility
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Aairs, Population Division
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Policies to discourage adolescent childbearing: Argentina
Today, Argentina is a low-fertility country that has historically been either a pronatalistor or pro-maternalistic
country, or both (Cepeda, 2014). Like most countries in Latin American and the Caribbean, a majority
of the country’s population ascribe to the Roman Catholic faith, a religion that inuenced many policies,
including those related to fertility. Historically, Argentina is also a country of immigrants, well beyond the
colonization period. Aer gaining independence in 1816, Argentina became one of the world’s top receivers
of immigrants, most of them from Spain, Italy and other European countries. Despite its relatively overall
low level of fertility since the twentieth century, Argentina exemplies the persistence of high fertility among
adolescents in the region (gure 5) and an increasing contribution of adolescent births to total fertility.
Population policies in the country should be placed within the larger context of major socio-political
changes in Argentina (Novick, 2001). In the period preceding 1930, women were mostly conned to family
roles. Aer 1930, women were granted some liberties and civil rights, were allowed into the labour force and
given certain protections in the workplace: their employment could not be terminated because of marriage,
they were granted maternity protection, including medical care and nancial compensation, and pregnant
women were prohibited to work during the 30 days preceding a birth and during the 45 days following a
birth.
First population congress, 1940
At the rst population congress, or Primer Congreso de la Población (PCP), convened in 1940, major concerns
were raised about the slowdown in population growth. During the period 1935-1940, the population growth
rate had declined to 1.6 per cent, down from 2.7 per cent for the period 1925-1930. e slow population
growth rate and the decline in fertility were seen as posing serious limitations for the future economic
growth of the nation (Novick, 2001).
e PCP generated a lot of media attention, editorial commentary and public discussions. It was a watershed
event that informed population policy in the ensuing years. During 1945-1955, the Government assumed
greater responsibility for women and children’s health (Novick, 2001; Ramacciotti, 2003). It provided
subsidies for births, granted employment preference in hiring and retention of parents and exempted
or reduced taxes for large families (Ramacciotti, 2003). Children previously classied as legitimate or
illegitimate were now classied as born in wedlock or out of wedlock, with other discriminatory categories
and designations phased out. For the rst time, parents who did not meet their paternal obligations could
be imprisoned (Novick, 2001).
From the 1950s through the early 1970s, the Government continued to expressly declare its responsibility
for the health of mothers and children, implementing a policy that guaranteed free medical care and basic
foodstus. In 1974, the Government created a national commission on demographic policy, the Comisión
Nacional de Política Demográca, to support population growth. In that same year, at the World Population
Conference in Bucharest, Argentina joined other countries in the argument against the Malthusian view of
population growth. In the meantime, however, adolescent fertility had begun to become a concern in the
1970s, a decade later than in Europe and the United States of America (Gogna and others, 2008), because of
the strong pronatalist sentiments in Argentina.
Petracci, Ramos and Szulik (2005) have summarized the evolution of policies on reproductive health in
Argentina since the 1980s as involving three phases. First, the gradual opening of public space and receptivity
of reproductive health issues. Second, the passing of a national sexual and reproductive health law. ird, the
successful development of public policy and programmes, despite the pressures from conservative groups
and contradicting policies over the lifetime of several dierent governments to date.
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As Robinson and Ross (2007) have observed, governments implement policies by enacting laws, creating implementing agencies, and expending
public resources. ese actions provide the framework within which policy responses and endurance occur. Argentina is emblematic that the