Thomas Malthus

Two Key components of Population

management:
Positive Population checks keep the
population levels down through wars,
disease, and famine
Negative Population checks keep
the population levels down through
family planning, later marriage, and
celibacy
Carrying Capacity
Means: The maximum number of people that an
environment can support without negative or
damaging effects
Doomsayers like Paul Ehrlich and Garrett
Hardin seem to think the Earth has already
exceeded its carrying capacity while their critics
such as Julian Simon seem to believe the
carrying capacity of the planet is infinite

http://www.overpopulation.com/faq/natural_resources/carrying_capacity.html
Population Rates
Increasing greatly... approximately 250
people are born every minute of the day...
That means over 350000 people are added
to the population every day
Today the World population is over 7.2
billion
The World Population is expected to reach
11 billion by the year 2050

Death Rates
Decreasing at a significant rate
Better medical treatment
Disease control (malaria, small pox)
Also better communication and
transportation (we are able to assist those
in other countries more efficiently and
effectively)

Ramifications
Overpopulation!!!
Stress on resrouces same amount of land
but a lot more people to sustain
Famine people dying of starvation
Stricter laws on child birth in some areas
Poverty poor living/working conditions

Solutions?
Education educate people on methods of
birth control (family planning strategies)
and the negative effects of overpopulation
Equality for women in many countries
women do not have the ability to gain
access to birth control even if they want
it... often they must have permission from
their husbands

Chinas Solutions
Family Planning Policy was introduced by
Deng Xiaoping in 1979
Population at the time was 970 million
Current population 1.35 billion
estimated 400 million fewer births
Strict system of incentives for
breaking/following the rules
Punishments
withholding of medical care
decreased wage
forced sterilizations/abortions
benefits cease
no university acceptance for children
decreased pension
forced to repay financial benefits received from
having first child
Rewards
increased wages and bonuses
free vacations for sterilizations/abortions
preferential housing
extra maternity leave and free daycare
free medical care
free tuition for children
extra pension income
guaranteed job for child when they graduate



Problems with the policy
Female infanticide (killing female babies so that
they could have another child with hopes of it
being a boy)
Decreased number of people in the family to
support it financially (women did not have the
same opportunities as men)
Abandonment of female babies (full orphanages)
Social problems more males than females
Present Situation
Couples in rural areas can now have another
child after a predetermined length of time if the
first child is a girl
Couples with a female baby receive cash bonuses
and other rewards
Girls are now more able to support parents in
old age and have jobs and possessions handed
down to them
Old age pension is increased for compliance
Successful?
Birth rate decreased by over 200 percent over
the previous 40 years

Is that enough?
What about their human rights?
Equality?
Forced sterilization/abortion issues?
Labour force?