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Growth rate falls but families still large

[Jordan] Iraqi refugee children are able to learn and play at the mother and baby centre in al-Ruweished camp in Jordan. IRIN
The average Jordanian family is still large.
Progress in reducing Jordan's population growth over the last decade was slowed by large families among poorer Jordanians that hindered efforts to combat poverty and unemployment, according to the findings of a national survey. The conclusions are part of a comprehensive survey, the first of its kind in the kingdom undertaken by the National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA), a think-tank headed by Jordan's Queen Rania Abdullah. The body was created by royal decree in 2001 and acts as an umbrella organization for NGOs that work in family matters. "The national strategy for the Jordanian family charts a course of action to improve the quality of life of Jordanian families," said Lara Hussein, the acting director of the NCFA. Hussein told IRIN the survey, which was launched in a public ceremony on Sunday by Prime Minister Adnan Badran, was a result of two years of extensive research conducted by several governmental institutions. However, a startling revelation was that despite major economic and social changes in the last four decades, the average size of the Jordanian family remains unchanged at six members – it stood at 5.7 in 2003 against 5.6 members in 1961. This was despite a drop in the population growth in the last two years to 2.8 percent against a high of 4.8 percent from the early 1960s to the 1970s – when the country had one of the fastest population growth rates in the world. "Despite the drop in population growth and in average number of births the average family is six," said Hussein Othman, a sociology professor and a consultant for NCFA, who was one of the main authors of the report. Othman said, however, there was now less resistance to family planning than before as many clinics were opening across the country. Ultimately ignorance and a lack of awareness was more of a hurdle against use of contraceptives than ingrained social norms. The comprehensive study addresses social and economic issues that affect the family as a whole, but does not describe its efforts as family planning, rather its recommendations are placed within the context of raising living standards. "When the size of the family is large then neither the father nor mother can fully undertake their duties. There is a link between the size of a family and poverty and unemployment," said Hussein, who is also a specialist in early childhood development. The government and NGOs are sensitive to a perception by many Jordanians in this tribal-based Muslim society that "family planning" is a Western-inspired concept intended to undermine the large Arab extended family. The report shows that over two-thirds of Jordanians, despite their tribal roots, are moving away from an extended to a nuclear family due to rapid social changes and the free-market IMF-guided reforms embarked by the kingdom in the last decade. One positive indicator, according to the report, is the fact that the age of marriage in Jordan has risen to 26.5 years for females and 29.8 years for men. Traditional marriages, however, are still common, especially in rural and Bedouin areas. The rise in marriage age has brought overall fertility rates in Jordan to an average of 3.7 live births in 2003 from nine births per woman in 1961. Othman said another byproduct of the rapid social changes in Jordan over the last few decades has been a rise in divorce rates to an average of between 8,000 to 9,000 cases annually over the last few years. "This is attributed to the breakdown in family ties as a result of the social changes in Jordan along with economic factors," he said. What still remains in Jordanian families, however, is the tendency of gender favouritism towards males tied to social norms especially among the lower income families. This mitigates against better conditions for women. The study ascribed this tendency to a lack of equal educational opportunities for women, citing a survey that revealed the rate of illiteracy among females aged above 15 to be almost three times more than males of the same age. This also applies to unemployment, with female unemployment at 20.8 percent compared to 13.4 percent for males. Jordan has seen rapid population growth partly as a result of successive wars in the region that have encouraged many refugees to settle there. The latest census put the population at 5.6 million, an almost six fold increase since 1961 when it was estimated at around 901,000 people.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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