Mable Blount

Dr. Sander
Ecology
11/16/15
Slowing the Population Growth in Developing Countries
The worlds population is predicted to reach 9.1 billion by 2050, with the majority of that
growth occurring in developing countries. In order to save the planet we must reduce the
current rate of high fertility in developing countries before the earth exceeds its carrying capacity
and all the resources are gone. Through economic development, empowering women, and
family planning the population can healthily decline.
Population growth increases a demand of resources, however it also provides excess
workers. This results in a decrease in wages and an increase in poverty. The cost of living
increases because natural resources are limited and there is more competition for jobs. In many
low income countries it is customary to have larger families in order to benefit from the free
labor forces and to defy the high mortality rates. If these low income countries such as India,
Armenia, and Samoa had a higher GPD they would be able to afford medicine and workers. The
mortality rate would be higher because they would be able to fund hospitals and afford medicine.
There would be no need to have an excess of children and pray that the odds are in your favor. It
would be less of a necessity for children to work on the farms because families would be able to
afford to hire laborers, providing more jobs and overall decreasing the unemployed rate.
Increasing productivity keeps the price of life lower and wages higher. It increases the GPD,
which decreases the need for higher fertility rates.

The rapidly growing population can also be affected by womens choice. Educating
women about their options and giving them a voice, will allow them to have control over their
own bodies. Educated women have opportunities other than succumbing to their husbands
request. The United Nations stated that Respect for human rights calls for a legal framework
which guarantees human rights, and the means to enforce the guarantees. Women are entitled to
the same human rights as men, including the right to health and education, and protection from
violence. Women are also entitled to choose their own rate of number of reproductions.
Expanding these womens minds to all options will encourage them to exercise their rights and
choices. The U.N. continues Women who can make their own decisions about pregnancy and
childbirth find that they have room for all sorts of other choices in their lives. In many
impoverished countries women have little or no say. Improving their access to credit, land, jobs
and overall independence, will lead to women voluntarily reducing the amount of children they
have throughout their lifespan. Women should know that their input is worth just as much as
their husbands and be empowered to defy their husbands or customs.
Various forms of contraceptives are being introduced into developing countries. Since
the 1960s contraceptives have affected fertility rate and are responsible for the decline of
approximately 43 percent in fertility rate. Family planning reduces unwanted pregnancies that
could later have resulted in an abortion. Abortions are not always safe, contraceptives are a safe
way of preventing a pregnancy before it happens. There is a study that states that children born
less than two years apart are more likely to die before the age of one, than siblings born at least
two years apart. Results from family planning are fewer abortions, healthier children, and
voluntarily stunts in the population growth.

The Thai government supports family planning by providing knowledge and financial
assistance to the Thai people. The government backs a message that family planning improves
ones quality of life. In 1971 the official population policy was announced, since then the per
capita income in Thailand has nearly doubled and the birth rate has been significantly lower.
The human population is increasing very quickly and in the near future has the potential
to surpass the carrying capacity and environmental limits. Most of the absurd population growth
is occurring in developing countries. By reducing poverty and increasing the country's GPD,
invoking womens rights, and providing education and resources for family planning the fertility
rate can be reduced.

Work Cited
Frazer, Edorah. "Thailand: A Family Planning Success Story." Context Institute. Context
Institute, 16 Sept. 2011. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
Julie DaVanzo, David M. Adamson. "Site-wide Navigation." Family Planning in Developing
Countries. Rand Corporation, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.
Miller, G. Tyler, and Scott Spoolman. Essentials of Ecology. United States: Cengage Learning
Editores, 2010. Print.
"Population Growth: A Time bomb Which Only Women Can Defuse." Global Developement.
The Guardian, 2015. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.
United Nations. "Resources for Speakers, Global Issues, Africa, Ageing, Agriculture, Aids,
Atomic Energy, Children, Climate Change, Culture, Decolonization, Demining,
Development, Disabilities, Disarmament, Environment, Food, Governance,
Humanitarian, Refugees, Women." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.

United Nations. "Statement on Population Growth and Economic Development." UN News

Center. UN, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.