What Are the Measures for Controlling Population Growth?

World human population has more than doubled in the last century and is expected to continue growing at an ever-increasing rate. Recent medical and technological advances have allowed for a decrease in death rates while simultaneously allowing for an increase in birth rates. Thanks to these same technologies, people live longer than ever before, and with an increased life span comes a longer fertility period for women. Concerns about the effects of continuous human increase on the planet's resources have lead to the development of policies and ideas for controlling population growth.

Administrative Management

• Some nations have taken a legislative approach to population growth control by putting laws in place that restrict large families, requiring parents to pay a fine if they have more than a certain number of children. Other ideas that follow this same path are less obvious; instead of putting a law into place, some researchers feel it would be a good idea to restructure entire government systems, making it difficult to get health coverage for a large number of children or public housing assistance for big families. Parents interested in having more than one or two children would face considerate obstacles.

Contraception and Abortion

• Increased access to contraceptives is another way to slow population growth. Women without health insurance or knowledge of local resources often rely on faulty methods of birth control to protect them from pregnancy. If contraceptives are made widely available at reasonable costs, more women would be able to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Though controversial, abortion is another way to control population increase. Countries with higher abortion rates and higher instances of women using birth control are shown to have lower population growth rates.

Education

• In developing nations, family sizes are often larger than in nations that are more economically stable. Huge percentages of populations in these countries survive through subsistence farming and need a large number of family members to be able to work in the fields. Unfortunately, most of the children born to these families are unable to afford fees for basic schooling and, without literacy or job training, are only able to continue on to have more children to contribute to the household. Education about this cycle and the importance of academics and job training are critical for slowing the growth rate in developing nations.

Advocacy for Women's Rights

• Many women in the world are limited by their governments and aren't allowed to work outside the home. The number of children a woman gives birth to and raises in these situations are her status symbol and the only way she will achieve recognition. In other cases, restrictions stem from religious or cultural beliefs and traditions, where women are encouraged to marry and start raising a family at a young age or discouraged from using contraceptives. Giving women control over their bodies is critical to slowing population growth, as is support from all corners for women who choose to have fewer children or none at all.