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FACTORS AFFECTING POPULATION TRENDS AND THE

DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITIONS (UOS-May 2014 )
Population growth rates have an impact on a country's economy, regional food supply and the
environment. Although the rate of growth may directly impact a specific area, it will eventually
affect the entire world. Four major factors have an influence on population growth rates.
The population of the planet is constantly increasing, and this growth can have many effects on
the environment and the economy of the world. For example, as the world population rises, the
pressure mounts on the agricultural sector to feed the millions of extra mouths. In predicting the
rise of the world population, scientists use a number of variables.
Fertility Rate
 The factor which affects the growth of the population in the biggest way is the fertility
rate. The fertility rate is typically measured by the number of children per one woman of
child-bearing age. If the fertility rate is larger than 2, the rule of thumb is that the
population should rise, as there are more children than their parents. On the other hand, if
this ratio is below 2, the population of the region may be destined for a decline.
 The amount of people born into a society has a profound impact on a population.
Developed countries tend to have a lower birth rate, due to the availability of birth
control, education and more women working outside the home. Women in
underdeveloped countries are often expected to produce many children as a duty and
generally do not use, or do not have, contraceptives.
Mortality Rate
 A key factor affecting the growth of the population is the death, or mortality, rate. Just as
the birth of new people increases the population size, deaths decrease it. The factors that
affect the mortality rate include the availability and affordability of quality health care
and lifestyle habits -- for example, whether they smoke or do physical exercises
regularly.
 The amount of people dying, in comparison to those being born, is a factor in
determining population growth rates. This factor is affected by other factors such as
disease epidemics in a particular region, wars that take a toll on populations, health care
availability, food resources and sanitation. Developed countries have better health care as
opposed to underdeveloped areas, which have few health care resources.
Immigration and Emigration
 Cross-border migration is the act of people moving from one country to another. It affects
the population size of both the host and destination countries. Emigration is caused by a
number of factors, such as fleeing war, finding education, seeking new jobs or joining
family members. When a person emigrates from a country, its population shrinks. When
someone moves to a country from another place, it is known as immigration. Whether or
not a person is allowed to immigrate is controlled by the country that will host this
person.
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 The amount of people who leave a country has an impact on local population. Factors
that influence emigration include wars, famine, lack of resources and natural disasters,
like a hurricane or earthquake.
 The amount of individuals who migrate to a particular area will increase population. This
migration is facilitated by the appeal of a region or by emigration factors that drive
people from one area and into another.
Government Restrictions
 There are some people in the world, including politicians, who believe that some
countries need to have a birth rate restriction -- in fact, China already has its widely-
known one-child policy. Such a restriction would prevent couples from being able to
have more than the restricted amount of children. The argument goes that this type of
restriction would cause fewer resources to be used and prevent overpopulation.
Female Education
 Sachs also observed that education of girls reduces fertility rates because educated
women see additional roles for themselves beyond bearing children.
Financial Incentives
 In certain countries with low population rates, there are financial incentives to produce
more children. In the United States, tax deductions were put in place to assist parents
with the day-to-day costs of raising a child. A survey by the "New York Times" showed
that nearly 75 percent of Americans take these deductions into consideration when
determining how many children to have.
In addition, social welfare programs have been implemented in the U.S., Canada and
Europe that give more money to those people with a number of children they cannot
financially support. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women receiving financial
support from a welfare system have three times as many children as women who do not.
A study conducted by the New York Health and Human Services Division has shown that
there is a direct correlation between women achieving a higher education and the lack of
using the welfare system. The study further showed that women with a higher education
had fewer children.
Religious Beliefs
 Many of the world's religions promote the non-use of birth control methods. The Catholic
church, one of the largest in the world, condemns birth control as a way to prevent
pregnancy. Religions such as Islam and Mormonism promote the idea of producing as
many offspring as possible. Most of the doctrines in these religions are based on the idea
that the deity they worship will prevent or support the birth of a child. In this way, the
religions act as a birth control method of belief. Unfortunately, many of the members of
these organizations end up producing many offspring, more than are needed to replace
the mother and father.
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FACTORS AFFECTING POPULATION TRENDS AND THE

DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITIONS (UOS-May 2014 )
Families in developing nations are often larger, but less resource intensive (e.g., they
use fewer resources per person) than those in more developed nations. However,
increasingly human populations wish to have a "western" standard of living. An increase
in the world’s average standard of living significantly lowers the potential human
carrying capacity of the earth. Therefore, in order to reduce their impact as a species,
humans must not only reduce the resources they use per person, they must also reduce
their average family size. Determining ways to reduce family size requires an
understanding of the many factors determining family size and the resultant population
dynamics of the region.Many economic and cultural influences affect family size.
Depending upon the prevailing cultural values and economic forces, a nation's people
can be induced to have larger or smaller families. Although human population dynamics
are often considered on a global scale, factors that affect population growth vary in
different parts of the world. Therefore, it is essential to understand the different forces
acting on people throughout the world.
ECONOMIC FACTORS
Some of the factors influencing family size -- and therefore population growth -- are
economic ones. These factors are probably the most easily understood. For instance, a
rural agricultural family in a developing country that relies upon a plow pulled by a water
buffalo needs many family members to take care of the planting, harvesting and
marketing of crops. A family of three would not provide enough labor to sustain the
family business.In contrast, families in developed countries tend to be small for
economic reasons. It is expensive to raise children at the relatively high standard of
living found in such countries. Considerable resources must be devoted to food, clothes,
transportation, entertainment and schooling. A large proportion of children from
developed countries attend college, thus adding even more to the expense. Therefore, it
is economically prudent in such countries for families to have few children.Obviously,
there are technological and educational ways to negate the need for many children. If
the farm family in a developing country is able to obtain better farming tools and
information, they can improve the farm’s production by irrigating crops and by using
techniques such as crop rotation (e.g., planting different crops in different years to
maintain soil fertility, prevent erosion and maximize yields). With the acquisition of such
new tools and farming techniques, fewer family members are required to work the same
amount of land. The land may even become more productive, even with less manual
labor.Additional economic factors -- such as the cost of medical care and retirement
care -- also play a role in family size. If a family is unable to afford adequate medical
care, then family planning services and birth control materials may not be attainable.
Also, when mortality rates for children are high and significant numbers of children do
not live to adulthood, there is a strong motivation to have as many children as possible.
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Doing so ensures that some of the children will live to help in the family business, and
provide a link to posterity Without national social security programs like those in the
United States and Sweden, the elderly in developing countries rely on younger, working
members of their families to support them in their retirement. A larger family means a
more secure future. The expense of a national social security program also acts to
reduce family size in a country, as the high taxes imposed on workers to support the
system makes supporting large families difficult.

CULTURAL FACTORS
Around the globe, cultural factors influence family size and as a result, affect population
growth rate. From a cultural standpoint, religion can have a profound effect on family
planning. Many religions promote large families as a way to further the religion or to
glorify a higher power. For example, Orthodox Judaism encourages large families in
order to perpetuate Judaism. Roman Catholicism promotes large families for the same
reason, and forbids the use of any "artificial" means of birth control. Devout followers of
a religion with such values often have large families even in the face of other factors,
such as economic ones. This can be seen in countries like Israel (Judaism) and Brazil
(Catholicism), which have high percentages of religious followers in their populations.
Both countries have high birth rates and high population growth rates.Various factors
involving women can also affect family sizes. These factors include: education and
employment opportunities available to women, the marriage age of women and the
societal acceptance of birth control methods. These factors are sometimes strongly
influenced by society’s cultural attitudes towards women. Around the world, statistics
indicate that with higher levels of education, women are more likely to be employed
outside the home; in addition, higher marriage age of women and the greater the
acceptance of birth control methods, the smaller the family size. It is clear that
increasing educational and professional opportunities for women would reduce overall
population growth and improve standards of living worldwide.