OVERVIEW

The Committee on Population (CPOP) was established in 1983 to conduct scientific assessments of major population-related issues and to provide a forum for the discussion and analysis of important public policy issues related to population. It deals with questions about the determinants and consequences of changes in population size and distribution that are important to policy makers and researchers in both developed and developing nations.

A large part of the committee's work in recent years has been concerned with major issues in international population policy, such as global population growth, aging, and urban population dynamics in developing countries. The committee also maintains a domestic research agenda. The committee's activities include full-length studies designed to assess knowledge and to formulate scientific consensus; workshops and conferences designed to elicit a full range of results of the population sciences relevant to a policy problem; and forums in which researchers and policy makers can deepen their understanding of population problems and potential solutions.

Strategies and Issues

Funding for work in international population policy has declined significantly over the last couple of years. Nevertheless, the committee continues to work on international issues, particularly those related to adolescents. Although fertility rates have fallen in most parts of the world, population growth rates will remain high until well into the 21st century because of the unprecedented large cohorts entering their reproductive years. Hence an important issue in the population field is adolescent reproductive behavior in the developing world. Also, the committee hopes to develop work that explores the relationship between reproductive health and poverty reduction, possibly in association with several African academies of science.

As fertility continues to fall throughout the world and global population growth slows, policy makers are becoming increasingly aware of the economic, social, and political consequences of changing population age pyramids. The U.S. population, for example, is aging rapidly and individuals are living longer. Yet older Americans are leaving the labor force at younger and younger ages. The prospect is that the ratio of labor force participants will continue to shrink. Hence the committee also works on issues having to do with population aging.

Another international issue of importance to the committee is the rapidly changing spatial distribution of the population. In 2006, for the first time ever, the majority of the world’s population will live in cities. The committee recently completed a major study that aims to better understand the dynamics of urban population growth, as well as its causes and consequences. Currently, the committee is closely involved in helping to develop a large Academy-wide initiative on urban environmental sustainability as well as developing a follow-up effort focused on improving urban population projections.

Hispanics are now the largest minority group in the United States. The committee’s panel on Hispanics in the United States is examining the implications of this growing presence, both for this country and for Hispanic groups themselves. The children of Hispanic immigrants will leave myriad imprints on the nation in the first three decades of the 21st century. The simultaneous aging of the non-Hispanic white population will magnify the Hispanic presence, ensuring that its continued growth and diversification will become a defining force in the economic, social, and political development of the nation as a whole.