Notes: -we all have widely differing opinions about population. Some would point to population growth as the cause of poverty and environmental degradation. - Yet even when studying the semiarid regions of sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent, economists have typically not regarded poverty, population growth and the local environment as interconnected. -People blame population growth as a cause of poverty and environmental degredation. -They have emphasized the deleterious effects that a large population would have on our planet in the distant future. -In developing countries, decisions on whether to have a child and on how to share education, food, work, health care and local resources are in large measure made within small entities such as households. -In a society where female life expectancy at birth is 50 years and the fertility rate is seven, nearly half of a woman's adult life is spent carrying a child or breast-feeding it. -Lack of paid employment and education limits a woman's ability to make decisions and promotes population growth. -United Nations Conference on Population and Development emphasized women's reproductive rights and the means by which they could be protected and promoted. -Members of a household may have to spend as much as five to six hours a day fetching water and collection fodder and wood. -If access to shared resources continues, parents produce too many children, leading to crowding and susceptibility to disease and more pressure on the environmental resources. -Families with greater access to resources are in a position to limit their size and propel themselves into still higher income levels.
Summary: Families whom want to limit the number of children in their household is the point of this article. The reason why they want to limit the numbers of children is the high cost it is for the woman. From this article the woman average lifespan is 50 years is contributed for having babies in their womb and breast feeding them. That is half of her life time. The reason for the poorer countries like Africa and India that are increasing in population is because they have a higher fertility rate than other countries. The children give them income, the children care for the elderly; for example India, the boy has to take care of his parents in the future. The families are not educated.
Reflection: My opinion is I the population increasing so rapidly is very bad for the environment. My reasons for this is too much people equals less resources, less resources leads to bad environments- pollution and such. I also feel like we need to educate the woman about birth controls and educate their husbands about population growth.