There is a very large but scattered literature debating the economic implications of high fertility. This paper reviews … the literature on three themes: (a) Does high fertility affect low-income countries' prospects for economic growth and … effective at lowering fertility, and should they be publicly funded? The literature shows broad consensus that while policy and …

most notably in the poorest countries. Lowering fertility has many benefits for the poorest countries. Studies indicate … that, in high fertility settings, fertility decline facilitates economic growth and poverty reduction. It also reduces the … fertility, and that they are highly pro-poor in their impact. While the rest of the world wrestles with the complexities of …