Overview: The traditional Malthusian view is that the growth of population will eventually overtake the production of food because the Earth has limited resources. The production of food grows arithmetically (1,2,3,4...) while the human race reproduces geometrically (2,4,8....). This leads to important questions: Is the world being overpopulated? Does the world have enough resources to support people?
The Neo-Malthusian view is similar to the traditional Malthusian but is less pessimistic, stating that human intervention can put a check on population growth. However their theory stems from the view that the poor have the most children due to ignorance and "lack of foresight" and make it an imperative that people have less children (p. 133).
Population is rising because mortality is decreasing. The trend is that population increases are stemming from low-income countries. In fact, many higher-income nations have a declining population. One explanation may be that people in low-income countries tend to have more children in order to compensate for possible losses. Also there is improved public health and sanitation, allowing safer deliveries, higher fertility and longer lifespans. The United Nations Population Fund projects that the world population may stop growing at 10 billion people (p. 127). Currently the world's population is nearly 6 billion people. The three components of population are mortality, fertility and distribution.
The Demographic Transition Theory (p. 128) ties together industrialization and fertility and is based on the modernization theory. Since the Industrial Revolution, high mortality and fertility rates have turned to low mortality and low fertility rates in developed nations. The more industrialized, the more likely a nation will have low deaths and low fertility.
Migration: "The level and the nature of development determine migration patterns. Migration decisions have emotional and practical repercussions of great significance, affecting the equality of people's life." p. 129
My thoughts: The migrant population is often overlooked. I think it is an important part of the population equation so I am glad they talk extensively about the plight of migrant workers. They are often faced with unequal treatment, work long hours with low pay, work in dangerous environments and are prone to mistreatment and vulnerable to disease, especially if they are illegal migrants since they shy away from going to hospitals. The book gives examples of historical migrations such as migrants from the India subcontinent going to oil-producing Middle Eastern countries, European migrants to North & South America in the 1900s, the migration caused by famine in Indo-China and sub-Saharan Africa and refugees from the Cambodian Pol Pot regime.
"Development is the best contraceptive." - Bucharest slogan 1974 (p. 134)
My thoughts: Was this really a slogan? It made me laugh out loud but also think twice about the impact of development. I don't think it is the only way to slow population growth. While it is a catchy phrase, development incorporated with education are the best contraceptives. Also, the book talks about the many social factors that contribute to population size. This connects with the International Conference on Population and Development's (ICPD) Programme of Action which advocate for women and health. Their focus is on: 1) reproduction, women and the family 2) the inter-relation between population dynamics and development 3) mortality, migration and the elderly.
Population vs. birth control: birth control refers to the rights of couples or individuals to control childbearing on the basis of choice. Population control refers to the controlling of childbearing through policies.
Vocab:
Replacement level- level of fertility at which women have enough daughters to replace themselves
Infant Mortality Rate- number of deaths to infants under one year of age in a given year per 1,000 live births
fertility rate- number of live births per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years in a given year
crude birth rate- number of births per 1,000 population in a given year
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