Population Problem

Introduction

• Population refers to the total number of people living in a specific geographical area.
• The Census, National Sample Survey, Sample Registration System, and other methods will be used to collect data on the population and other socioeconomic factors.
• Demography is the scientific study of human population.
• It concentrates on three easily observed human events.

1. Changes in population number,
2. population composition, and
3. population dispersion in space

Demography- the study of population

• Demography is a key technique to understanding a society’s human population.
• It is concerned with five demographic processes: fertility, death, marriage, migration, and social mobility.
• The increase in population is causing tremendous societal worry.
• Demographers study both area and other population characteristics that are socially significant (such as age, gender, literacy, religion, occupation, marital pattern, and so on).
• The world’s human population exists as a result of socio-cultural interaction.

Terminologies used in Demography

Sex ratio

• The number of females per 1000 males

Density of Population

• Number of persons living per square kilometer

Family Size

• The total number of persons in a family

Dependency Ratio

• the proportion of persons above 65 years of age and children below 15 years.

Life Expectancy

• The average number of years, which a person of that age may expect to live.

Causes of Population Growth

Peaceful Conditions:

• For nearly a century, India lived in relative peace, avoiding significant inter-conflicts or wars, particularly following the foundation of British authority.
• Overpopulation was aided by peaceful conditions.

Progress in Medical Knowledge:

• Its use has significantly lowered the death rate.
• It has aided us in controlling the spread of diseases such as Malaria, tuberculosis, cholera, plague, smallpox, and others, as well as saving people’s lives from the jaws of death.
• It has favorably contributed to increased population.

Improvement in Transport Facility:

• It has made it easier for people to access medical and health care services.
• These have saved many lives and increased the population.

Improvements to the field of Agriculture and Industry:

• Uncertainties in agriculture have been greatly reduced thanks to advances in science and technology.
• Food production has increased significantly, and industries have created job possibilities for thousands of people.
• These advancements have given individuals hope that they will be able to feed more people if they have children.

Early Marriage:

• child marriage have been very common in our country.
• According to the 1931 census, 72% marriages in India were performed before 15 years of age and 34% before 10 year of age.
• since then, there has been a continuous increase in the mean age of marriage among both male and females.
• thus, though the mean age of marriage has been continuously increasing, yet a large number of girls even today marry at an age at which they are not ready for marriage either socially and emotionally, or physiologically and chronologically.

High Illiteracy

• Family planning is inextricably linked to female education, and female education is inextricably linked to age at marriage, general status of women, fertility and infant mortality rates, and so on.
• Education transforms a person into a liberal, broad-minded, open to new ideas, and rational thinker.
• If both men and women are educated, they will easily see the logic of family planning; nevertheless, if either or both are uneducated, they will be more orthodox, irrational, and religious-minded.

Religious Perceptions of Family Planning

• Religiously orthodox and conservative persons are opposed to using family planning methods.
• Some women oppose family planning on the grounds that they cannot go against God’s will.
• Some women believe that the purpose of a woman’s existence is to bear children.
• Although the majority of both males and females were aware of current family planning methods, they were either religiously opposed to utilizing them or lacked clear and adequate knowledge about them.

Other Causes

• The joint family arrangement and young spouses’ lack of responsibility for raising their children in these homes.
• There are a shortage of recreational facilities as well as a lack of awareness or incorrect information concerning the negative effects of vasectomy, tubectomy, and the loop.
• Many impoverished parents have children not because they are illiterate, but because they require them.

Consequences of Population Growth

High Land Strain

• Overpopulation eventually leads to heavy land pressure.
• Because land is finite and fixed in availability, a rise in population will only put additional strain on it.
• As a result, the newly born will have to share the land with the current inhabitants.
• It reduces the amount of land that each might share.

Shortage of Food

• The country’s rapidly rising population has resulted in a severe food scarcity.
• People must be fed. A growing population necessitates an increase in food production.
  Even while our food production has increased significantly, it is still insufficient to sustain the world’s rising population.
• As a result, one out of every four people is malnourished, and two out of every four people only get half of their daily calorie requirement.

Housing Problem

• There isn’t enough housing to go around to provide individuals with a place to live.
• In cities, a high number of low-income individuals live in slums in deplorable conditions.
• People in major cities like Karachi are compelled to live in one-room apartments.
• It is not uncommon to find 10 to 12 people living in a single badly lit, ill-ventilated dwelling, etc.
• Overcrowding, congestion, ill-health, insanitation, and even immorality have resulted from a severe housing shortage.

Unemployment

• Not only should newly born individuals be fed and housed, but they should also be given a job.
• New jobs will be created for new workers. It is not simple.
• There is existing unemployment, as well as underemployment.
• Every year, a growing number of persons of working age join the ranks of the unemployed.
• The job opportunities provided throughout the course of the five-year plans are insufficient to fulfil demand.
• Because of the rapid rise of the population, the problem of unemployment is becoming more dangerous as time passes.

Illiteracy

• The educational standards of the population have a significant impact on a country’s economic prosperity, political stability, and cultural achievements.
• The extent of illiteracy is primarily attributable to overpopulation.
• It is unfortunate that Pakistan is unable to provide schooling facilities, and that educational institutions are likewise inadequate.

Ill Health

• Pakistanis are not only economically impoverished, but they are also physically unhealthy.
• The media facilities that are available are insufficient to fulfil the expanding demand.
• More than 75% of doctors have settled in towns and cities to service 30% of the population.
• As a result, a substantial number of people are unable to access medical care.
• A large number of people are becoming physically and intellectually handicapped as a result of a lack of medical services and sufficient meals.
• Every year, not only is the population growing, but so is the number of people suffering from illness.

Economic Loss

• The rising population has reduced both national and per capita income.
• The average person’s level of living has suffered.
• Poverty is primarily caused by overpopulation.
• Our people’s poor income and saving capacity result in an extremely low rate of capital development.
• As a result, economic growth suffers.
• The increased productivity is being eaten away by the growing population, making saving and investing nearly impossible.
• It has jolted the country’s stability, integrity, and security.

Changes in the Environment

• Soil

population pressure on means of subsistence.

Due to deforestation there is less rain, soil erosion, lack of green pastures.

• Exploration of Coal and other Minerals

Exploration is going to exhaust all the underground recourses within 100 years.

• Air Pollution due to Industrialization

With the advancement of technology and mechanization, the rapid expansion of industrialization pollutes the atmosphere with harmful gases such as carbon monoxide and other gases, chemicals such as acid, and fertilizer plants, resulting in an increase in respiratory ailments.
The usage of automobiles and equipment as petroleum products results in the release of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, reducing life expectancy.

• Water Pollution

increase in consumption of water due to over population may lead to scarcity of water.

Solution to Overcome Population Growth

1. Better Education

• One of the first steps is to put policies in place that reflect social change.
• Educating the masses helps them comprehend the need of having only one or two children at most.
• Similarly, education is critical in comprehending the most recent technologies that are creating significant waves in the world of computers.
• Families that face adversity and decide to have four or five children should be discouraged.

2. Girl Child Education

• Currently, more than 130 million young women and girls worldwide are not enrolled in school.
• The bulk of these people reside in male-dominated countries, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa, South and West Asia, where women do not have the same access to education as men.
• Gender conventions and underage marriage complicate their access to education even further.
• Girls who have less education are more likely to have children at a young age and are more prone to exploitation.
• Furthermore, low-income households are less likely to enroll their female children in school.

3. Raising Awareness of Family Planning

• As the world’s population continues to expand at an alarming rate, boosting awareness among people about family planning and informing them about the catastrophic consequences of overpopulation can assist to slow population growth.
• One of the most effective tactics is to inform them about the numerous safe sex techniques and contraceptive treatments available to avoid undesired pregnancy.

4. Tax advantages or exemptions

• To combat overpopulation, governments in various countries may be forced to implement a variety of tax-exemption measures.
• One of them may be to waive a portion of income tax or lower income tax rates for married couples with one or two children.
• Because we humans are more prone to accumulating wealth, this could have a favorable impact.

5. Social Media Marketing

• Some civilizations have already begun to use social marketing to educate the public about the implications of overpopulation.
• The intervention can be widely implemented at a low cost.
• Print materials (flyers, brochures, fact sheets, stickers) can be distributed in a range of settings, including local houses of worship, sporting events, local food markets, schools, and car parks.