GLOBAL

DEMOGRAPHY
The Contemporary World
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Discuss the Identify the Differentiate

relationship effects of aging between
between and contrasting
population and overpopulation positions over
economic welfare reproductive
health
DEMOGRAPHY
Demo - meaning “the people”
Graphy - “measurement”

Demography is the statistical study of

human populations. Demography
examines the size, structure, and
movements of populations over
space and time.
When couples are asked why they have children, their
answers are almost always about their feelings.

For most, having a child is the symbol of a successful

union.

However, there are a few who worry how much strain a

child can bring to the household as he/she “competes”
for the parents’ attention and how much energy the
family needs to shower its love to an additional member.
Will the child be an economic asset or burden to the
family?
Rural communities often welcome an extra hand to help
in crop cultivation, particularly during the planting and
harvesting seasons.

The poorer districts of urban centers also tend to have

families with more children because the success of their
“small family business” depends on how many of their
members can be hawking their wares on the streets.

Urbanized, educated, and professional families with two

incomes, however, desire just one or two progenies.
These families also have their sights on long-term savings plan.

Rural families view multiple children and large kinship networks

as critical investments.

Urban families, however, may not have the same kinship

network anymore because couples live on their own, or
because they move out of the farmland.
Countries in the “less developed regions of the world” that rely on
agriculture tend to maintain high levels of population growth.

Urban populations have grown, but not necessarily because

families are having more children. It is rather the Combination of
the natural outcome of significant migration
to the cities by seeking work in the more
modern sectors of society.

International migration also plays a part.

How does an aging population affect employment?
THE PERILS OF
OVERPOPULATION
Development planners see urbanization and industrialization as
indicators of a developing society, but disagree on the role of
population growth or decline in modernization.

Urbanization - process through which cities grow /the increase

in the proportion of people living in towns and cities.

Industrialization - is a process by which an economy is

transformed from a focus on agriculture to a reliance on
manufacturing
This lengthy discussion brings back ideas of British scholar
Thomas Maithus, who warned in his 19778 “An Essay on the
Principle of Population” that population growth will inevitably
exhaust world food supply by the middle of 19th century.

It was revived in the late 1960’s when American biologist Paul R.

Ehrlich and his wife, Anne, wrote “The Population Bomb,” which
argued that overpopulation in the 1970’s and 1980’s will bring
about global environmental disasters that would lead to food
shortage and mass starvation.
Recommendations:

● Chemical castration
● Taxing an additional child and luxury taxes in child-related
products
● Paying off men who would agree to be sterilized after two
children
● Powerful Department of Population and Environment
In the mod-20th century, the Philippines, China and India sought
to lower birth rate on the belief that the expansion of family
members would lead to a crisis in resources, which in return
may result in widespread poverty, mass hunger, and political
instability.

As early as 1958, the American policy journal, Foreign Affairs,

had already advocated “contraception and sterilization” as the
practical solutions to global economic, social, and political
problems.
Advocates of population control contend for:

● Universal access to reproductive technologies

● Giving women the right to choose whether to have children
or not

Politics determine these “birth control” program. Developed

countries justify their support for population control in
developing countries by depicting the latter as conservative
societies.
Examples:

● Population experts blamed the “irresponsible fecundity” of

Egyptians for that nations run-on population growth
● The Iranian peasant’s “natural” libidinal tendencies for the
same rise in population
● Muslims as hypersexual and hyper-fecund and hence a
drain on resources
● Forced sterilization of 20 million “violators” of the Chinese
government’s One-Child Policy
● Vietnam and Mexico also conducted coercive mass
sterilization.
 IT’S THE
ECONOMY,
NOT THE
BABIES
● Neo-malthusianism -
refers to the belief that
population control
through the use of
contraception is essential
for the survival of the
earth’s human population
● Betsy Hartman - disagrees
with the advocates of Neo-
Malthusian theory and
accused governments of
using population control as
a “substitute for social
justice and much needed
reforms” - such as land
distribution, employment
creation, provision of mass
education and healthcare
Others pointed out that the population did grow fast in many
countries in the 1960’s, and this growth “aided economic
development by spurring technological and institutional
innovation and increasing the supply of human ingenuity.”

Advances in agricultural production have shown that the

Malthusian nightmare can be prevented.
The Green Revolution
created high-yielding
varieties of rice and
other cereals, and
along with the
development of new
methods of cultivation
increased yields
globally, but more
particularly in the
developing world.
Between 1950 and 1984, global grain production increased by
over 250%, allowing agriculture to keep pace with population
growth, thereby keeping global famine under control.

Scholars and policymakers agree with the neo-Malthusian s but

suggest that if governments pursue population control
programs, they must include “more inclusive growth” and
“greener economic growth”
● Women are often subject of these population measures.
Reproductive rights supporters argue that if population
control and economic development were to reach their
goals, women must have control over whether they will
have their progenies – they will be able to pursue their
vocations.

● This correlation between family, fertility, and fortune has

motivated countries with growing economies to introduce
or strengthen their reproductive health laws, including
abortion.
● High-income first world nations and fast-developing
countries were able to sustain growth in part because
women were given the power of choice and easy access to
reproductive technologies.

● In North America and Europe, 73% of governments allow

abortion upon a mother’s request. Moreover, the more
educated a woman is, the better are her prospects of
improving her economic position.
● Most countries implement reproductive health laws
because they worry about the health of the mother. In
1960, Bolivia’s average total fertility (TFR) was 6.7 children.
In 1978, the Bolivian government put into effect a family
planning program that included the legalization of abortion.
In 1985, the TFR went down to 5.13 and further declined to
3.46 in 2008.
● A similar pattern occurred in Ghana after the government
expanded reproductive health laws out of the same
concern as that of the Bolivian government. As a result,
“fertility declined steeply … and continued to decline after
1994.”

● In 2014, the United Nations noted that the proportion of

countries allowing abortion to preserve the physical health
of a woman increased from 63% to 67%, and those to
preserve the mental health of a woman increased from 52%
to 64%.
● Opponents regarded reproductive rights as nothing but a
false front of abortion. They contend that this method of
preventing conception endangers the life of mother and
must be banned.

● The religious wing of the anti-reproductive right flank goes

further and describes abortion as a debauchery that sullies
the name of God; it will send the mother to hell and
prevents the baby to become human.
● Unfailing pressure by Christian groups compelled the
governments of Poland, Croatia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and
even Russia to impose restrictive reproductive health
programs, including making access to condoms and other
technologies.

● The Philippines, with a Catholic majority, now has a

reproductive health law but conservative politicians have
enfeebled it through budget cuts.
POPULATION
GROWTH
AND FOOD
SECURITY
● 95% of this population growth will happen in the
developing countries, with demographers predicting that
by the middle of this century, several countries will have
tripled their population.

● The opposite is happening in the developed world where

populations remain steady in general, but declining in
some of the most advanced countries (Japan & Singapore)
● The decline in fertility and the existence of a young
productive population, however, may not be enough to
offset this concern over food security.

● The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns that in

order for countries to mitigate the impact of population
growth, food production must increase by 70%; annual
cereal production must rise to 3 billion tons from the
current 2.1 billion; and yearly meat production must go up
to 200 million tons to reach 470 million.
● The FAO recommends that countries should increase their
investments in agriculture, craft long-term policies aimed
at fighting poverty, and invest in research and
development.

● The UN body also suggests that countries develop a

comprehensive social service program that includes food
assistance, consistent delivery of health services, and
education especially for the poor.
THANK
YOU!