Population: Part VI (Population Control Policies) What do countries do when the have too many, too few or too many of a certain type?

How do Governments Affect Population Change? Many governments institute policies designed to influence the overall growth rate or ethnic ratios within the population. These policies fall into three groups: 1. Expansive 2. Eugenic 3. Restrictive

Expansive Population Policies Encourage families to have more children Communist Societies Soviet Union China – Mao Zedong European countries: NOW Tax incentives Sweden Cash payments, tax incentives, job leave, work hour flexibility lasting up to 8 years after birth Short baby boom, but led to issues

Eugenic Population Policies Favoring one racial or cultural sector of the population over the others Tax discrimination, allocation of resources, favoritism Examples Nazi Germany Japan? USA- Eugenics in United States (California prisons) KKK Nazism in the United States Planned Parenthood

Restrictive Population Policies Reducing the rate of natural increase through a range of means China: “One-child” policy: Income bonuses, Better health care benefits, Better retirement pensions, Priority in housing

Solutions to Population Growth 1) Empowerment of Women $ for contraception & education Changing cultural norms to value girls 2) Diffusion of Birth Control Policies Educating men w/ responsibility for birth control Sterilization

Solutions to Population Growth 3) Redistribution of wealth - improve standard of living for poor so that children aren’t as necessary Improving farming techniques in poor areas Starvation, Malnourishment

Solutions to Population Growth 4) Medical technology – costs of maintaining vulnerable populations (old & young) 5) Addressing government policies to deal with their growing populations

Something to think about… Is population control funded by MDCs ethical in LDCs? Population control v. culture Birth control? Sterilization? Abortion? Sex determination? Incentives: Money, food, clothing? Is population control funded by MDCs needed to keep mass amounts of people in the LDCs out of poverty?