ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates how various combinations of fertility and mortality control achievable with the contraceptive technologies will affect the overall structure of populations. It examines how these factors determine the degree of population aging in societies where both types of technologies are applied on a mass basis. The chapter provides assessed the population implications of projected technological breakthroughs in contraception and life-span extension and mortality reduction. One way of examining the relative contribution of fertility and mortality to the rate of population aging is to select different values for each process and determine the age structure of the population when it achieves stability. While the effects of fertility control can be seen on a global level, the effects of life-span extension and reduction in chronic-disease mortality risks are just beginning to emerge in a few countries. Diseases associated with the greatest mortality risks, however, will not necessarily be associated with the greatest risk of disability.
