C.

GLOBAL POPULATION AND MOBILITY

OVERPOPULATION

In this lesson, learners will understand the

important concepts and factors that lead to overpopulation
and overconsumption of our natural resources. Family
size and poverty will be tackled and several things will be
taken into account on how population growth causes
poverty.

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this lesson, the learners are expected to:

1. Identify what overpopulation is all about ; Image from: [Link]

2. Explain the impacts of overpopulation to overconsumption ;
3. Understand the relationship between population and resources;
4. Define terms and factors that leads to overpopulation; and
5. Understand the effects of overpopulation to family and poverty and vice-versa.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POPULATION AND RESOURCES

Current idea on the population question starts

with Thomas Malthus, one of the known English
economic analysts, whose Essay on the Principle of
Population was first distributed in 1798. In it, Malthus
broadly affirmed that the number of population in a given
nation develops at a geometric rate while food flexibly
grows just numerically; hence, in the long run, the
methods for resource would arrive at a characteristic
cutoff and the outcome would be, unavoidably,
deficiencies, hunger, starvation, and epidemics. Indeed,
even in typical occasions, growth in population depressed
wages and extended the hopelessness of the common
laborers, driving Malthus to contend that the Poor Laws
of England and different types of monetary help for the
poor just animated widespread population growth and
postponed inescapable crisis. For several years, Malthus'
ideas were utilized to legitimize conservative class
Image from: [Link] interests, the genetic counseling development, and hard
supreme reactions to hunger and starvation (Bashford,
2014; Davis, 2001). However, Malthusianism was likewise snared with battles for women's right to
reproduction, driven by women's activists, for example, Emma Goldman, who broadcasted that the
common laborers could accomplish its own liberation through 'conscious procreation', and Margaret
Sanger, the one who founded the Planned Parenthood (Connelly, 2008; Masjuan and Martinez-Alier,
2004).

In the twentieth century, the supposed neo-Malthusians adjusted Malthus' demographic

determinism to warn of the depletion of land and natural resources, not simply the food supply. Popular
books, for example, William Vogt's The Road to Survival and Fairfield Osborn's Our Plundered Planet
(both from 1948) mixed feelings of dread that uncontrolled population growth and industrialization were
carrying the Earth to the furthest reaches of its 'carrying capacity' (Robertson, 2012).

After Ehrlich, population growth turned into a point of convergence in deliberate investigations of
the reasons for ecological degradation (predominantly in economics and sociology). Ehrlich assisted with
building up the IPAT equation, where:

Environmental impact (I) is calculated as the product of population growth (P), income or affluence (A),
and technology (T).

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This equation is naturally identified with the idea of 'biological impression', which introduced an
accounting strategy to evaluate the effects of consumption beyond natural borders. Taking all things
together, this impacts the accounting research has demonstrated that rising consumption in nations with
moderately high pay and low population growth (primarily, the Global North), has broad natural impacts
in developing countries (the Global South) since, for instance, “the footprint of the typical American is
nearly 25 times greater than that of the typical Bangladeshi” (York et al., 2003, p. 295). In any case, later
“changes in patterns of consumption have blurred this binary distinction between rich and poor societies”
(Rosa et al., 2015, p. 37).

OUR POPULATION HAS BECOME SO LARGE THAT THE EARTH CANNOT COPE

Currently, there are more than

7,800,000,000 people on planet Earth.

It took until the early of the 19th

century for the world population to reach
one billion. Now we add a billion every 12-
15 years.

THE EARTH CANNOT PROVIDE FOR US ALL AND THE NATURAL WORLD IS PAYING
THE PRICE

Biodiversity loss, climate change, world pollution, deforestation, water and food deficiency these
are totally exacerbated by our enormous and ever-expanding numbers. Our impact on nature is a result of
our consumption and our population. We should address both.

Household Population, Number of Households, and Average Household Size of the Philippines

The household population of the Philippines reached about 100.57 million people in 2015. This is
8.48 million higher than the 92.10 million family unit population detailed in 2010, and 24.24 million
more than the 76.33 million household population posted in 2000. The household population included
99.6 percent of the complete Philippine population, while the remaining 0.4 percent is contained the
institutional population or those dwelling in aggregate or institutional living quarters, for example,
hospitals, orphanages, and military camps; and Filipinos in Philippine embassies, consulates, and
missions outside the country.

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Number of households increased by 2.80 million from 20.17 million in 2010 to 22.98 million in 2015

 The total number of households in the country in 2015 was recorded at 22.98 million, higher by
2.80 million compared with 20.17 million in 2010 and by 7.70 million compared with 15.28
million in 2000. See Table B and Figure 2.

 Among the country’s administrative 18 regions, Region IV-A (CALABARZON) had the most
number of households with 3.40 million, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) with
3.10 million and Region III (Central Luzon) with 2.57 million.

Average household size was 4.4 persons in 2015

 The country’s average household size (AHS) decreased from 4.6 persons in 2010 to 4.4 persons in
2015. In 2000, there were 5.0 persons, on average, per household.

 The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) registered the highest AHS of 6.1 persons,
followed by Region V (Bicol) with 4.8 persons. The lowest AHS was recorded in the NCR and
Region XI (Davao), both with 4.1 persons.

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Population and Environmentalism

Today, the governmental issues of overpopulation are vexed. Malthusian idea was an imperative
supporting of an international environmental movement during the 1970s, and we can see its traces in
'lifeboat ethics,' Spaceship Earth, the 'limits of growth' position, concerns over desertification, and
different tropes of environmental talk from that period. Nonetheless, at this point population control is,
best case scenario, a heating issue for most major environmental organizations (Cafaro, 2015).
Conservatives reject neo-Malthusianism for its anti-growth ethic and coercive family planning endeavors
while progressives recoil at its racist and neo-colonial suggestions (Hoff and Robertson, 2016).
Meanwhile, rates of fertility have generally declined, in the US and around the globe, likewise collapsing
the desperation of population control. This 'baby bust' or population stagnation has several implications
for a wide range of issues, from immigration to supporting government assistance state advantages to
resurgent ethnic patriotism (Robbins and Smith, 2016). Today, there is a wide agreement, steady with
segment change hypothesis, that mortality-lessening enhancements in general wellbeing, alongside
neediness decrease and female empowerment, by and large lead toward lower fertility rate, reducing the
requirement for pressure in reproductive issues.

In studies about environment, the overpopulation question may appear to be dead, a thing of the
past. But, the question remains, can population and consumption keep on growing together at current rates
without serious effect on natural resource stocks, biological system administrations, and worldwide
climate? As Crist and Cafaro (2012, p. 4) outline it, innovation and a generally unchallenged commitment
to an entrepreneur development worldview have empowered mankind to push well past the cutoff points
Malthus or Ehrlich anticipated, in the process "turning the entire world in Resource World"— yet, is this
actually an accomplishment to be praised, or rather, "a dishonorable and crooked objective"? Maybe it is
the ideal opportunity for a rapprochement among Malthusian and hostile to Malthusian camps, to manage
the social, natural, and moral difficulties of this Anthropocene period.

Drivers of Population Growth

 Agriculture: local agriculture and farming (10,000-6000 BCE), global agriculture and exchange
of plants, animals, and people between countries (1500-1750).

 Public health (1950): reduced death rates among children in poor countries

 Improved health care and sanitation (1900s): reduced infectious disease

Drivers of CURRENT increase in population

1. Decreases in mortality among infants

2. Increases in LONGEVITY
a. increasing everywhere except in Southern Africa (due to HIV/AIDS)
b. there is a huge gaps between developed and developing nations
c. birth and death rates are declining worldwide, but as long as fertility is higher than
mortality rates, population will continue to grow.
d. overall economic development, public healthcare, advancement in food production and
distribution, water and sanitation have led to dramatic decline in mortality

Things to remember on Population Change

 population growth is at an exponential rate: it took 120,000 years to add the first billion people,
130 years to get to 2 billion, but only 12 years to go from 6 to 7 billion
 more than 85% of population growth in the last 40,000 years occurred in the last 200 years
 there are optimistic estimates that the population level will be lower than 2050 by 2100 if birth
rate is low
 while population is still growing, the ANNUAL GROWTH RATE has been decreasing since
1960s for rich countries, a falling growth rate began before 1950; for poor countries, this began
around 1965

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The Oceans and Overpopulation

Around 70-75 million tons of fish are caught every year which is a 34% development in the
course of the most recent decade. Fish are the biggest source of protein to the human diet. That rate is
increasing. Fish production surpasses that of cows, sheep, poultry, and eggs. Because of
overconsumption, fish species are vanishing. The greater part of the regularly consumed fishes like tuna,
salmon, haddock, halibut, cod are endangered.

The Forests and Overpopulation

As population density increases, the percentage of forest cover decreases as a result of:
 destruction caused by fire
 mass industrial logging
 building and spread of plantations

Livestock and Overpopulation

Animals take up a disproportion amount of people’s land. Animals contribute to 17% of our diet.
30% of arable and farm land is used to grow feed for meat animals. As a result, meat consumption is
increasing.

Fossil Fuels and Overpopulation

More people = more energy consumption. It basically resulted to:

• more resource decrease,
• need for search to expand energy sources,
• as we find new energy sources, we push the carrying capacity upward. It's a vicious cycle; we are
currently consuming 87 million barrels of oil per day.
• there are only 135 billion barrels remaining,
• assuming no new increases in oil reserves, that's 41 years of oil left oil is getting harder to get to.
• more deep water drilling is necessary, there are 59 years of natural gas left and 120 years of coal

Carbon Dioxide and Overpopulation

More people = increased CO2 emissions from fossil fuels = climate change; CO2 dissolves into the ocean
and resulted to:
• forming of carbonic acid
• makes the oceans more polluted and acidic
• ocean acidity has increased by 25% in last 200 years
• higher acidity causes reproductive disorders in marine life
• higher acidity destroys sea weeds and coral reefs

Fresh Water and Overpopulation

The global fresh water crisis is the new oil crisis; water shortage and scarcity is directly related to:
• overconsumption
• climate change that affects weather pattern
• rainfall changes

What happens when there is water scarcity:

• nutrient loss in our body
• soil degradation due to acidity
• loss of biodiversity and other forms of life
• imbalance and ecological disruption
• health issues like waterborne disease
• loss of food
• natural calamities and disasters

There are up to 8 million deaths per year due to water scarcity

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Controlling Future Population Growth

1. Contraception and Maternal Health Services: increased access to healthcare services and
contraception for those who want it would have immediate effects on population control.

2. Feed the Most Vulnerable: better nutrition for pregnant women, breast-feeding women and
nursing children and infants up to five years of age. It will improve the health and ability to learn
effects will be observed.

3. Universal Secondary Education: educating all children delays first marriage and first child,
reduces overall number of children, improves survival of offspring so that there are fewer
incentives to having more children; effects would be fest in 5 to 25 years.

The S Curve

THE S CURVE: This type of population growth is termed Density-dependent since growth rate
depends on the numbers present in the population.

1. Population increases slowly initially.

2. Increases rapidly approaching exponential growth rate.
3. Then declines in a negative acceleration rate until at zero growth rate the population stabilizes.

BIRTH = DEATH,

MORTALITY = OVERCROWDING & FOOD SUPPLY

- Results from the gradually increasing environmental pressures as population density increase

J Curve

The J-curve is more dramatic because it frequently results in a population collapse.

1. Population density increases rapidly exponentially.

2. Stops abruptly as environmental resistance (seasonality) or some other factor becomes
effective (end of breeding phase)

BEYOND CARRYING CAPACITY

Population growth overshoot the carrying capacity but the environmental resistance becomes
effective only at the last minute (due to the speed of the population growth) and population suffer severe
die-backs

Where is the J curve seen in natural populations? The most typical examples being algal blooms,
some insects (locusts) and lemmings

Source: Purves et al., Life: The Science of Biology, 4th Edition, by Sinauer Associates

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RENEWABLE RESOURCES

Everybody understands that huge numbers of the Earth's assets are limited. We are at present
totally dependent on petroleum derivatives, iron and different metals, minerals and even such
fundamental wares as sand to keep the cutting edge world ticking over. Including more purchasers makes
those assets run out quicker.

The Earth likewise gives for our necessities inexhaustible assets, for example, lumber, clean
water and air, healthy soils and wild fish consumed for food. In any case, our demands are extraordinary
to such an extent that we are currently consuming those assets at 1.7 times the rate that the Earth can
reestablish them. That rate has expanded consistently since the 1970s and, except if thing change, we will
require three Earths to supply our necessities by 2050. (Source: Global Footprint Network)

Few people accept that more prominent efficiencies in the utilization of resources mean we will
consume less of them. There is no proof to help that, notwithstanding. An examination by the
Massachussets Institute of Technology in 2017 assessed the consumption of crude materials, for example,
raw petroleum and silicon, and found that more prominent efficiencies prompted cost decreases, making
wares more moderate and, expanding their interest and use. They explored in excess of 60 materials, and
found that just in six was consumption diminishing.

FOOD AND WATER

More than 800 million individuals right now don't get enough food to meet their nutritional needs
each day. However, 650 million are obese. Individuals go hungry not on the grounds that there is lacking
food but since our worldwide economic system distributes it unfairly.

However, every extra mouth to feed puts more pressure on our food supply. That is already under
threat from multiple factors, including shortage of fresh water, soil depletion, decimated populations of
insect pollinators and climate change. The UN currently projects that we will need 70% more food by
2050. Increasing agricultural production comes at a cost to nature, however. Habitat loss and exploitation
are the two most significant threats to biodiversity - currently 80% of extinction threats to mammals and
birds are due to agriculture.

A milestone report on diet and sustainability by the EAT-Lancet Commission in 2019 inferred
that it is conceivable to take care of a population of 10 billion reasonably if radical move is made to
reform dietary habits and food creation. It went on to say, however:

“ Global population is expected to exceed 11 billion people by 2100 unless actions are taken to stabilise
population growth. Healthy diets from sustainable food systems are possible for up to 10 billion people
but become increasingly unlikely past this population threshold.”

Action to address population is essential if we are to meet the most basic human right of all -
ensuring people have enough to eat.

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Water is an absolute fundamental human need, and every individual adds to demand threats to
fresh water are much more critical. An MIT study said that almost five billion individuals will live in
water-stressed location by 2050. The United Nations has calculated that water deficiencies because of
environmental change could dislodge a huge number of individuals by 2030. Territorial varieties in water
accessibility are extraordinary yet a significant number of the world's least fortunate locales, and those
which have high population growth, are among those with the briefest flexibility. Developed nations
likewise experience the ill effects of the impacts of population pressure on water supply. The densely
populated south-east of England is positioned in the base 10% of worldwide districts for capacity to
supply water to its occupants.

POLLUTION

Likewise with each ecological issue, while there are numerous solutions to pollution, adding
more people to the population adds more polluters and makes those solutions less helpful. While rich
nations produce more plastic waste per individual, for example, helpless locales where population growth
overwhelms the framework to discard waste may contribute more plastic in general.

GREED, NEED AND INJUSTICE

Material footprint per capita in high-income countries is 60% higher than in upper-middle-income
countries and more than 13 times the level of low-income countries. -United Nations

Huge aberrations exist in consumption and impact between the rich world and the Global South,
and within nations themselves. More just global system, wherein resources are distributed more
impartially, is needed. Whatever structure that it takes, in order to guarantee that there is sufficient to
meet everybody's right to a better than average way of life, the richest must consume more economically
as such, expend less. At the point when countries leave poverty, their fertility rates lessen however,
inseparably with that increasing prosperity comes expanded consumption. Individuals ought not need
compete after the Earth's resources.

That is the reason population and family size is an issue in both developed and developing
countries. Where affluence and consumption is high, diminishing the quantity of new consumers is a
compelling, lasting method of lessening the channel they place on resources, just as their ecological
effect. It doesn't imply that individuals ought not do different things to diminish their consumption, or that
more extensive issues of worldwide injustice do not need to be attended to. All things considered,
lessening, through viable, moral methods, the number of rich individuals consuming is a basic, viable
technique to assuage relieve the pressure.

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In the developing world, fewer people means less competition for natural resources, especially
local resources such as land and fresh water. In the longer term, fewer people being born means that as
countries move out of poverty, their level of consumption will be lower.

WHAT OUR DIETS AND POPULATION GROWTH MEAN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

A new report reveals that global adoption of current food consumption patterns in G20 countries would
ruin our chance of meeting climate and sustainability targets, exceeding the planetary boundary for food-
related emissions by almost three-fold and requiring up to seven Earths to support.

Diets for a Better Future, published by EAT, demonstrates that even national dietary guidelines in
almost all G20 countries are incompatible with emissions reduction targets under the Paris Agreement,
which aims to restrict warming to “well below” 2 °C and ideally 1.5 °C. The authors emphasis the
importance of a drastic dietary reduction in animal products and that sustainable, healthy diets will
become impossible if our population exceeds 10 billion people, as is expected to happen in the latter half
of the century.

THE NEGLECTED FOOD FACTOR

Agriculture already utilizes 40% of the Earth's land area and is the essential driver of
deforestation, environment annihilation and biodiversity loss. Production of food is responsible for a
fourth of the world's ozone harming substance outflows, equalling the contribution made by generating
electricity and surpassing that of industry.

“Global food production is the single largest human pressure on Earth, threatening local ecosystems,
driving a sixth mass extinction of species, and impacting the stability of the entire Earth system. Feeding
and producing food for our current population of 7.7 billion people accounts for approximately 12.5 Gt
CO2eq or 24% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.” – Diets for a Better Future, EAT, 2020

The landmark 2019 EAT-Lancet report concluded that achieving healthy, systematic and
sustainable diets for 10 billion people by 2050 is possible but it requires profound transformation to
eating habits and food production. Notably, it mentioned that exceeding this population threshold will
make this outcome “increasingly unlikely”. However, the UN predicts a population size close to 11
billion by 2100.

About 820 million people suffer from starvation and that number has been rising in recent years
due to progress not keeping up with rapid population growth in the hardest hit areas. Another 2 billion
and counting are considered obese or overweight due to unhealthy diets, which are also fuelling
environmental destruction.

The report takes note of that regardless of the enormous effect of food system on climate change,
biodiversity and health, they have generally been excluded from worldwide approach plans. It warns that
in the event that we proceed on current food and population trajectories we won't meet either the Paris
Agreement or the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

FEEDING THE CLIMATE CRISIS

To get an opportunity of restricting warming to 1.5 °C, emissions need to peak in 2020 and divide
each decade, accomplishing net-zero emanations no later than 2050. To meet this objective, the EAT-
Lancet Commission concluded that emissions from food can't surpass a yearly carbon spending plan of
5.0 Gigatonnes (Gt) CO2-equivalent.

The report states:

“Current food consumption trajectories and estimated growth of another 2 billion people on the planet by
2050 will largely exceed food’s maximum allowable “carbon budget”. Behavioral changes associated
with rising incomes and urbanization are driving a global dietary transition in which traditional diets are

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being replaced by more homogenous diets higher in animal source foods. If this trend is not broken and
reversed, emissions from food production will nearly double by 2050.”

In fact, yearly worldwide food-related outflows, at 5.6 Gt, as of now exceed this financial plan,
with G20 nations responsible for 66% of them. As of now, the top five most crowded nations in the G20,
China, India, United States, Indonesia, and Brazil, are additionally the nations with the most elevated total
emissions from food production. Worldwide selection of G20 nations' present food consumption
examples would require up to 7.4 Earths to be feasible.

The authors contend that if everybody followed their nation's public dietary rules, food-related
greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced comparative with today but would still surpass the planetary
atmosphere limit for food by right around two-fold and we would in any case require up to five Earths.
The "Planetary Health Diet", proposed by the EAT-Lancet Commission, would bring about a practically
half decrease, essentially through reduced red meat and dairy consumption. In nations that despite
everything have broad malnutrition, including India and Indonesia, food-related outflows would really
increment somewhat if either diet was generally adopted.

It is clear that countries must adjust their dietary rules to consider ecological sustainability, and
keeping in mind that economical food frameworks should without a doubt be applied for global strategy
conversations, so should manageable population. The sooner we settle our population, the almost certain
we are to have the option to take care of the world without destroying our environment. Empowering,
decision based population solutions are vital to meeting the SDGs and accomplishing a superior future for
people and planet.

POVERTY

While billions appreciate an affluent style, in excess of a tenth of the total population live in
extreme poverty today. Poverty isn't a result of restricted worldwide assets, however political and
economic injustice. Be that as it may, the least fortunate individuals are quite often at most serious risk
from environmental damage, climate change and competition for resources. The impacts of impractical
population hit the poorest first, and hardest.

FAMILY SIZE AND POVERTY

Poor people mostly have large families. Why? The most fundamental reason behind it is that poor
people tend to believe that “two hands are better than one”. Poor parents see benefits in having more
hands for subsistence agribusiness, for example, as well as to ensure that they will have a stable support
when they get old. They believe that one or more person in the family will be a help in their work and
give them a decent family earning. What they don’t understand is that this would in turn lead to their
misery.

There are several problems of having a large number of children. The basic problem is with
respect to employment generation programs, because there is a limit to what the government can generate.
Furthermore, additional children hinder mothers from getting employed, since the mothers have to look
after them. Third, the low per capita household income compels the small children to involve themselves
in child labor in order to sustain the family which can be very dangerous for a growing child. Fourth, with
additional child, all the family resources are exhausted in bringing up, with a result that there is no
savings in the poor family for any unsolicited future needs.

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As indicated by Boyd Orr's survey data, birth order and child mortality are directly related. For
example, a fourth child born to a family will have a more noteworthy possibility of mortality in the early
age compared with the third child. Consequently this adds to the issue with enormous family size.
Another downside of having a huge family is that the kids don't get enough consideration with respect to
nutrients and education. Thus without appropriate development and instruction, rather than adding to the
prosperity of the family, the kids would not become self-supporting. This prompts more neediness
bringing about more births and the cycle continues.

Along these lines in a nation like India where the greater part of the population is significantly
poor, the large family size has become a significant issue in lessening income gap just as guaranteeing a
better than average way of life to everybody. India isn't confronting the issue of huge population; it is
battling with the problem of large poor population which isn't even self-sustaining.

The answer for this can be that the government can boost the large poor families by increasing
Child Benefit regarding extra child and through different plans which mean to protect large families. Yet,
this additionally has two significant issues. To start with, it would cost a ton of cash and consequently
will make a gigantic weight on public exchequer bringing about other financial problems. Second, this
arrangement can push people to have large families considering the advantages they are getting.

In this manner the point ought to be to help the current large families just as awareness among the
poor about family planning through different programs which will in general confer information with
respect to the burdens of having a huge family. The use of financial motivating forces or incentives to
empower family planning among the poor is an innovative technique that can most likely add to control
family size. Incentives, like giving free food, can be utilized to encourage appearance of the poor people
at contraceptive educations gatherings, adoption and promotion of contraceptive methods, sterilization,
and to plan the family. Besides in any program or courses on family planning, the essential subject should
be fertility awareness since numerous women are not even mindful that they have a natural pattern of
fertile and infertile periods.

Furthermore, birth control devices should be made free and efforts should be taken to make them
available and usable to the poor. These efforts have to be taken not only by the government but also by
the people because the best way to eradicate anything is to prune its roots.

What two factors correlate with HIGH birth rates? POVERTY & LACK of education

It has long been known that when living standards rise in a community, birth rates tend to decline
(the "demographic shift")

Where women have had access to media and education, birth rates have showed significant
Declines- even when income levels had not increased.

The world's poorest countries tend to have the largest family sizes and fertility rates. When
people have no economic security and cannot rely on their government and a social safety net, they often
have children to ensure they will be looked after when they are older. Where child mortality is high, there
is an even greater impetus to have more children. Those circumstances can lead in turn to a culture which
values high family size.

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This understandable human impulse can contribute to a vicious cycle. Poor families with large
numbers of dependents may perceive the need to take children out of matriculation early, or marry off
their daughters at earlier age. They will also often live in deprived communities where there is only
limited access to modern family planning. All these factors combine to keep family sizes high,
perpetuating the cycle.

What applies to families, applies also to countries. In poorer nations, providing infrastructure,
jobs, education and health services to a constantly growing population can be an impossible task. In the
worst cases, even food can be impossible to produce. In countries with very high population growth, huge
numbers of dependent children in comparison to economically productive adults create a further burden.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the median age of the entire population is just 19 years old. In Nigeria, the country
with the world's highest fertility rate, the median age is just 15.3 years.

Why do the poor have large families?

There are many reasons why a family affected by poverty may choose to have many children and why
poor countries have high birth rates ranging from cultural values to issues of social justice.

1. High child mortality rates. Imagine living in a home where your children's lives are continually
undermined. There's insufficient nutritious food, limited access to clean water, lacking lodging,
poor healthcare system and negligible government support. These factors add to child mortality
and parents in poverty know this. According to the World Health Organization, 5.4 million
children under five are dying each year, with a large portion of these kids in developing countries.
Faced with this reality, parents may have more children, understanding the disastrous truth that
some of their children basically won't survive..

2. Misconceptions about family planning. In many communities, there are still stigmas in using
contraception. These beliefs can originate from a variety of sources, including cultural biases,
breakdowns in public health education and even scepticism about the motives of the government
in controlling family size. Often, they contribute to the cultivation of fear and confusion over
using certain family planning methods.

3. Lack of access to health services. It’s not always misconceptions that prevent individuals from
practicing family planning. Sometimes it’s the lack of access to healthcare providers. For some
families, health clinics are located far from their homes and sitios, making it difficult to travel to
get needed support. Especially in rural areas, a lack of infrastructure, roads and transportation can
also be a barrier toward receiving professional health care.

4. Patriarchal values. In Canada, having fewer children or no children means an increasingly

familiar norm and the conversation around women’s reproductive rights is one that’s top
priority. But in many countries, the severity of patriarchal values is still a reality. In these
circumstances, men can often make the decisions for their wives and families, including whether
or not to use contraception. The result of this, women are often left without any control over how
many children they’ll end up having.

5. Forced early marriage. Forced early marriage is any marriage where either person is under 18
and hasn’t given their full consent to be married. It happens for so many reasons and teenage girls
are the most vulnerable. When a girl is married young, her childbearing years start much earlier,
meaning among other complications she’s likely to have more kids.

6. Lack of education. Girls who marry and begin their families in adolescent period are much less
likely to finish school and go on to model educational examples for their children. They are also
likely to have more children, making it difficult to afford the cost of education for her every
child. On the other hand, women who go further in their education tend to have fewer kids. They
often marry later in life and are more likely to prioritize their own children’s education,
understanding the financial investment it will require.

7. Religious beliefs. In many faiths, children are seen as blessing from heaven. Religious texts and
scripture can enforce this idea and often act as a strong guiding influence in people’s lives. When
a life philosophy is anchored in the belief that your offspring will be provided for and that

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children are incredible gifts, it stands to reason that couples would rather have the idea of a large
family.

8. Social reputation. In a community where children are viewed as blessings, the larger the family
the more blessed you are. In more parts of the Global South, couples without children are
stigmatized, being discriminated and looked down upon. Big families are viewed as powerful and
if a woman is unable to bear children, it’s not uncommon for her husband to abandon her or begin
a family with someone else.

9. Family legacy. Many believed that the desire to preserve lineage, history and a family name can
feel like a natural, human instinct. It’s not uncommon for parents to be partial to passing on their
own genetics to continue their family legacy.

10. Limited finances. Families living in poverty, particularly those who make their living through
farming may have more children as a way of supporting the family’s livelihood. Children are
often tasked with chores like walking to collect water, gardening, field work and animal care,
even when they’re very young. In more dire situations, children may enter the labour force often
illegally to earn more income for the family’s survival.

11. Care for elders. As children grow up, they are not only carry on their family’s legacy, but also
the responsibility of providing for and protecting their parents and siblings. This is especially
important in countries without strong governmental safety nets. In these cases, having more kids
may provide an extra sense of security for parents, with the added hope that one day, one or more
children may be successful enough to lift the entire family out of poverty.

POVERTY AND LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION

While people living in poverty make a minuscule impact on global environmental problems such
as climate change, they can have a devastating impact on their local environment. Soils may be eroded in
an attempt to increase crop yields, fish stocks decimated to provide food and local forests razed for timber
and firewood. These actions, along with increasing conflict between humans and wildlife and hunting of
animals for food can have a huge impact on biodiversity.

Environmental damage can have wider impacts. For instance, in places where there is no water
supply and no refuse collection, people are obliged to use and discard plastic packaging or bottles,
sometimes in waterways, contributing to plastic pollution in the oceans. The perception that poverty
equates to a low environmental footprint does not hold true in many circumstances.

SOLUTIONS

The most basic things to do in ending population growth is positive and simple, and also leads to a better
quality of life for all:

1. Lift people out of poverty

2. Provide universal access to modern family planning and quality education

3. Empower women

4. Encourage and incentivize smaller families

5. If all of these methods are used in combination, they are most effective, and have secured
dramatic reductions in fertility rates in many countries.

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ACTIVITY 1: LOTS OF PEOPLE, LOTS OF HUNGER?

Direction: Read the following scenarios thoroughly and answer the questions provided afterwards.

FRED

Fred's family lives on the twelfth floor of an apartment building overlooking Rizal Park in Manila. There
are six children in Fred's family. His father is a lawyer and his mother is a dentist, and the family's major
worry is about saving enough money to send the kids to good colleges. There are over 67,000 people
living in the square mile where Fred's building is located, according to the PSA census.

MARCIA

Marcia, her two brothers, and her parents live on a farm in Zambales. There are about five other families
within a mile of their farm. Marcia's parents do not own the farm but rent it from a local landowner. Even
though last year Marcia's family grew more rice and corns than ever before, prices paid for their crops
were low. They had to get food stamps to buy enough food for the family.

Answer the following:

1. Whose family is more likely to worry about going without food? Why?

2. Whose family lives in an "overpopulated'' area? Explain.

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ACTIVITY 2: WHICH COUNTRIES DO YOU THINK ARE OVERPOPULATED?

Directions: Using the figure below, fill up the table of the information needed using your impressions to
the 10 countries listed below. Moreover, answer the following questions at the end of this activity.

COUNTRY IMPRESSION
NORMALLY POPULATED OVERPOPULATED

Answer the following using the chart above:

1. Which country has more farmland?
3. Does the low ratio of farmland in USA cause hunger? Why?
4. Does the high ratio of farmland in Thailand prevent hunger? Why?
5. Is there a relationship between the amount of farmland and hunger? If the amount of farmland per
person does not cause hunger, what might be some causes of hunger?

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REFERENCES:

Bashford, A. (2014) Global population: history, geopolitics, and life on earth. New York: Columbia
University Press.

Cafaro, P. (2015) How many is too many?: The progressive argument for reducing immigration into the
United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Crist, E. & Cafaro, P. (2012) Human population growth as if the rest of life mattered. In Cafaro, P. &
Crist, E. (Eds), Life on the brink: environmentalists confront overpopulation (pp. 3–15). Athens:
University of Georgia Press.

Hoff, D. S. & Robertson, T. (2016) ‘Malthus today’. In R. J. Mayhew (Ed.), New perspectives on Malthus
(pp. 267–293). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Robertson, T. (2012) The Malthusian moment: Global population growth and the birth of American
environmentalism. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

Rosa, E. A., Rudel, T. K., York, R., Jorgenson, A. K. & Dietz, T. (2015) ‘The human (anthropogenic)
driving forces of global climate change’. In R. E. Dunlap & R. J. Brulle (Eds), Climate change and
society: Sociological perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press.

Web source:
[Link]., Population Matters, 135-137 Station Road, London E4 6AG, UK +44 (0)20
8123 9116

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