Key population issues What are the key population issues and how can they be tackled? Understanding the changing nature of population and what has been done to bring about those changes including environmental issues

Key population issues Across the world, 170 babies are born every minute and 80 people die. By the end of the year, 78 million more people will be living on this planet. Do we have the resources to provide for them and, if we do what are doing to the environment as a result of providing these resources?

Key population issues So, 78 million more people needing food and water most of which are in LEDCs, where 20% of the population go hungry and do not have access to running water. At the moment, the people in MEDCs consume 50% of the world’s food and 80% of the world’s energy.

Career and ambition especially in women Key population issues Family planning Education Career and ambition especially in women Higher standards of living

Key population issues >3million over 80s by 2008 More pensioners than children More than 2 million few workers Less people working, less people paying taxes, less money for government to spend on health education and so on

Key population issues In LEDCs – double the number of elderly as health care improves, much more people especially women living longer and standards of care for the elderly with fall as money dries up. Populations will become much more urban, but lack of jobs in MEDCs will cause more migration from LEDCs to fill the gaps

60% of all babies are born to mothers les than 20 years old Cultural and religious barriers make reducing birth rates very difficult Family planning has been encouraged through education. The more educated a woman is, the few children is likely to have and the healthier they are likely to be

What is the impact?

Many places are over populated and providing for them is leading to environmental difficulties

Desertification in Africa means that food cannot be grown and water is in even shorter supply. Lack of water affects health and the ability to grow crops needed for food and so the spiral continues – wars make matters even worse

Famine and disease reduces population Growth exceeds food supply High Food production Population growth Rate Of Natural increase Population continues to fall until a balance is restored. Low Time

Key population issues There are two possible outcomes to the current thinking on population: The population will stabilise or decline so that population resources will become balanced The population will continue to grow until it exceeds the environments capacity to carry it. Both of theses situations could result in Rapid decline in population as non-renewable resources are used up Rapid decline in population as economic base collapses Food shortages, environmental damage and population decline

Solutions - the case of China Since 1979, China has applied a one child policy to all families. Families were only allowed to have one child and those that had more were punished with withdrawal of benefits, fines and even prison Women were forced to have abortions, or were sterilised Incentives were given to those with just one child such as child care – and propaganda was used

Solutions - the case of China The greatest impact of this policy was felt in the cities and by 1986 83% of families had one child. In the rural areas, the policy was less successful with number at around 62%. Rural areas had a tradition of large farms because they were needed to work on the farms. Children were free labour. Farmers became wealthier with more people working on them and as a result, they could afford the fines, so they did not change. The government then allowed rural Chinese to have a second child, if the first one was a girl. This produced over 14 million more children than China had anticipated.

China - the impact China’s population growth has slowed down, but a whole host of other problems has been created: There is a high age imbalance meaning that there will not be enough workers for the future There are too many men – the need to have boys to keep a family going means that there are may unmarried mean and this ahs increased the number of sex related crimes There is unrest about the strict rules and the government telling people hat they can and cannot do – they feel it is a restriction of their freedom Girls are so under valued that many babies have been killed so that they can have another child or they have been sent away to orphanages under terrible conditions (see over)

The impact