One more... or Too Less?

Alarming high birth rates, an ever-increasing global population and the socio-economic and demographic effects of the same have been global concerns for the last 50 years or so. The US Census Bureau estimated this year that the global population has already crossed seven billion; and if the reports are to be believed, it will reach the nine billion mark in 2050. But there's quite an evident paradox in all this. While many countries like China and India top the overpopulation chart, many nations like Singapore and almost all countries in the European continent are ironically facing a rapidly shrinking and aging population. If one were to draw a seat of the pants correlation curve between literacy and population growth, quite clearly, the more literate a nation (and subsequently, its usage of birth control measures), the more the danger of a shrinking population. Then where lies the issue? Should national implemented birth control measures be restricted immediately?

 

The birth control movement is not a recent issue in the world. Contraceptive techniques were well known in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome; but the modern birth control movement took a larger shape when noted English economist, Thomas Robert Malthus, showcased the problems of overpopulation and ramped up the hype. Consequently, a range of birth control devices became available in the UK and the US by the 1870s. As decades progressed, citizens of more literate nations internalised birth control to a high extent. To an extent that, shockingly, in 2001, the Population Reference Bureau’s World Population Data showed that the total fertility rate of 65 countries (including 40 of the 42 European countries) had fallen below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. In 2010, it came to light that Singapore’s fertility rate had plunged to a record low of 1.16 as compared to 1.22 in 2009. As per the CIA World Factbook, Singapore's fertility rate fell to 0.78 in 2012. Evidently, the fine line between birth control and maintaining population levels is being crossed critically in an increasing number of countries. Of course, a low population is a boon for true socialists, where the overall living standards can be improved at a faster rate through centralised planning. But the faulted capitalism model is what runs most economics of the world unfortunately, and the issues brought up by a falling population are more complex. The US Census Bureau mentions that in Italy, if the current trend continues, the labour force will fall from the 23 million that it was in 1999 to 14 million in 2050. For Germany, the respective figures are 41 million to 28 million. So should we now start promoting population growth? At least leading international bodies could initiate necessary debate on where the fine line between birth control and population growth could be drawn.