News

ESRC Seminar Series Success (20th - 21st July 2011)

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:28:00 GMT

The Global Health and Social Care Unit, in the University of Portsmouth’s  School of Health Sciences and Social Work, has been successful in obtaining funding from the Economic Social Research Council (ESRC) to lead three seminars on post-transitional fertility in developing countries.

The first in the series was organised at the University of Portsmouth. It was coordinated by Dr Saseendran Pallikdavath, University of Portsmouth; Dr Chris Wilson, University of St Andrews and Professor Irudaya Rajan, Centre for Development Studies, India. This seminar was attended by over 30 researchers from UK, India, USA, Vienna, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Bangladesh, and Germany. The objective of the seminar was to discuss causes and consequences of below replacement level fertility in developing countries.

Some of the eminent demographers from the UK and Europe delivered lectures on the topic. These included Professor Tim Dyson, London School of Economics; Professor John Cleland, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Professor David Reher, Universidad Complutense, Madrid; Professor Jane Falkingham, University of Southampton; Peter Richerson University of California Davis; and Dr Thomas Sobotka, Vienna Institute of Demography, Austrian Academy of Sciences.

The speakers and organisers provided various perspectives on post-transitional fertility in developing and developed country contexts and highlighted that the developing world is fast approaching below replacement level fertility and that some of the consequences of low fertility experienced in the developed world cannot be ignored in the developing world. The second day was devoted to examining specific issues on low fertility in developing countries and focused on specific country contexts such as Bangladesh and Israel. These presentations were followed by discussions and identification of research questions and strategies.

The seminar identified gaps in knowledge in this field and outlined questions for future research. Participants expressed interest in working in collaborative teams to develop research grant applications on these issues. The University will coordinate such efforts. A network of participants is already established to continue discussions on this topic. The next seminar series will be at the Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum, India during July 2012. This will focus on low fertility in South Asia region and will be a major event. The last and final seminar will be held at the University of St Andrews during 2013.