In pursuing this goal, some programs have used undesirable means to increase the prevalence of contraceptive use, including incentives, quotas, and coercion. Family planning programs should focus solely on reducing unwanted fertility by helping individuals meet their own reproductive goals in a safe and ethical manner. In general, scientists understand the physiology of the female reproductive system far better than they do that of the male. Because of this knowledge imbalance, researchers have been able to prevent pregnancy by interrupting reproductive processes in women but not in men. Gaining a better understanding of male reproductive physiology, with an eye to developing new contraceptive methods for men, has been a major goal of scientists at the Population Council's Center for Biomedical Research.
Article includes synopsis of male contraceptive methods under investigation.
Many economists and some agricultural scientists argue instead that the world will, indeed, be able to feed itself. Population Council demographer John Bongaarts thinks the truth lies somewhere in between. Gender Issues Gender Inequalities and Demographic Behavior Gender inequalities in families, mirrored in other levels of society, are profound in Egypt, India, Ghana, and Kenya, and play an important role in reproductive decisionmaking and demographic change. Inequality between men and women has direct demographic consequences in diverse societies. Children who grow up with many siblings are increasingly at a disadvantage because they are least likely to benefit from new opportunities in modernizing societies.