title: The avoidable costs of population.
abstract: The social and economic consequences of current demographic trends in South Africa are analyzed using the concept of avoidable costs.  The author presents projections of the population up to the year 2000 organized under four major categories:  executive and managerial; professional; semi-skilled; and the unskilled, peasants, underemployed, and very poor.  Comparisons are made with projections for the same four categories for Canada to show the problems faced by South Africa, in that relatively small growth in the first two classes is contrasted to massive growth in the other, and particularly the least privileged, classes.  Consideration is given to the implications for the provision of schools and for the labor force.  The author concludes that "if a problem is to be tackled at its roots it is to the control of human numbers that our attention is to be directed."
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Sadie
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D000353:Africa, Southern; D003710:Demography; D003906:Developing Countries; D004467:Economics; D004493:Education; D004651:Employment; D005544:Forecasting; D006280:Health Workforce; D011153:Population; D011155:Population Control; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011158:Population Growth; D011640:Public Policy; D012106:Research; D012922:Social Change; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013019:South Africa; D013223:Statistics as Topic
keywords: Africa; Africa South Of The Sahara; Comparative Studies; Demographic Factors; Developing Countries; Economic Development; Economic Factors; Education; English Speaking Africa; Estimation Technics; Human Resources; Labor Force; Policy; Population; Population Control; Population Dynamics; Population Growth; Population Policy; Population Projection; Research Methodology; Social Development; Social Policy; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomic Status; South Africa; Southern Africa; Studies