Birth Rate And Living Standards

                                                                                         

A lot of issues are associated with population growth including environmental degradation and poverty. Most countries where population growth is booming don’t have enough natural resources, land and financial support to sustain the existing population, not to mention the newly born citizens. India is one of the countries where population growth is one of the major factors contributing to poverty and environmental problems.
Since 1999 India is known to be the second country in the world to have reached the population mark of one billion people. It sounds great at first, the nation is growing. But it is a big problem if one considers that India is only about a third of the size of the United States. The countries natural and economic resources, which were scarce to begin with, were further depleted by this boom in birth rate. Quality of available healthcare fell, which in turn means that future generations would be of weaker health and unable to effectively enter the workforce. Such increase in population also means even less land available per person making space a commodity as valuable as money. Recognizing the problems associated with rapid population growth many people started to argue that population control is the only measure that could effectively stop the boom and put the country on a slow population growth track.
While population control generally does mean that the nation’s birth rate could hypothetically be reduced it also raises a lot of ethical and moral issues. Many countries, including China, Indonesia and India have tried to implement population control programs. Many reports indicate that in India, Indonesia, China and other countries that have attempted to implement population control programs these measures resulted in questionable and sometimes outrageous actions on the part of the government. Incidents of forced abortions and sterilizations seeped through to the outside world raising hair on the heads of Westerners who never had to encounter such treatment.
Abortions were offered in some countries as an alternative to sterilization. Even though an abortion is not as drastic as complete elimination of even a remote possibility of having children it is also a very hard decision for a woman that is pregnant. For a lot of people it is a question of morality, for others it is a battle with their conscience. In any case no one would want to be presented with that option in absence of any others.
These population control programs are also very gender biased. In China, where a one child program was in effect, baby girls were often not wanted. A man is seen as a provider and support figure for the elders in almost any culture. When the accepted limit is only child per family the natural inclination is to want to have a male heir, who will be able to take care of his parents when they become old and incapable. Reports of Chinese baby girls being abandoned and given up for adoption or even killed shocked the Western world.
Considering the available options it is not very hard to see why population control programs have not been very successful in China and India, as well as in many other countries where growing population is dealing deadly blows to struggling economies and poor environment. The problem is not in lack of effort but is in the approach.
Let’s examine the Western societies. In most Western countries population growth is naturally controlled, without having to implement drastic and sometimes forced programs or rewarding people for having a certain number of children. This is not based on the fact that Western cultures do not wish to procreate as much as other cultures do. On the contrary family values are very high in most of the Western world, but the key is in education and availability of appropriate information and resources, which provider for higher level of awareness. Abortion and sterilization is not the first thing that comes to mind when birth control is discussed. Contraceptives and correct family planning are the standards of prevention of unwanted pregnancies in the Western societies. Children in the United States and Europe are exposed to different contraception options from very young age and are aware that pregnancy is not to be dealt with in drastic measures and can be easily avoided with few easy precautionary measures. The emphasis is not on the forced family planning but on the correct educational strategy, which unfortunately is not structured in the developing countries.
Infanticide, forced abortions, sterilization incentives proved not to be an effective way in trying to stop the population growth. In fact it is probably a more appropriate way to reach just the opposite effect. Education about benefits of contraception and options available is a much better way of conveying the message to the masses. Maybe the problem should be addressed on a much deeper level than simply trying to force people to stop giving birth. It is probably safe to assume that correction of the problem should begin with providing more information to the citizens about what could be done to avoid the problem in the future. When education is a luxury available only to the elite few while the rest of the people are forced to work and are kept in ignorance it is extremely hard to achieve the collective goals. Forcing people not to do something and trying to dictate to them what the officials think is right would only result in more confusion and anger from the citizens who don’t want to be dragged off to the abortion clinics and sterilization appointments.
Population control is generally a very good idea, if approached from a correct angle. Leaders need to provide more information to the people they govern about the benefits of birth control and why it is important. Only when awareness is increased and options are broadened can this problem be eradicated. Until then population control remains a very drastic measure that does relatively little to improve economic and environmental conditions in underdeveloped countries.

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