1. Population Growth

2. Which places are growing or shrinking?
3nnbd1b_tKQ Which Countries Have The Fastest Growing Populations?, 3:50
qn9DDsxfpCA Which Countries Have Shrinking Populations?, 4:19

3. Why Populations Grow Too Fast
Slightly better healthcare, better hygiene = more children are surviving to adulthood AND adults are living longer
Lack of access to birth control
Low education level of women
Religious beliefs (that large families are better, that birth control is a sin, the preference for boy babies)
Immigration (if the country is a hotspot for refugees, for example)

4. Effects of Rapidly Growing Population
Depletion of natural resources
Degradation of environment
More conflicts and wars
Rise of unemployment
High cost of living

5. Why Populations Shrink
Low birth rates (below replacement level)
Little immigration
Lots of emigration
Disease outbreak
High mortality rate
War

6. Effects of Shrinking Population
Labour shortage
Economic stagnation
Brain drain
Schools and other public services close down
Fewer young people to care for all the older people (and to pay taxes to support them too)
Cities with the largest population decline

7. Demographic Trap: the combination of high fertility and declining mortality in developing countries, resulting in a period of high population growth rate

8. How Governments Control Population Growth

9. If you were Prime Minister of a country with a very low birth rate, what could you do about it?

10. Denmark Wants More Babies
m/watch?v=vrO3TfJc9Q w 1:59
In 2015 Denmark had a series of commercials with the goal of encouraging couples to have more babies
This actually lead to a small increase in births the following year

11. But only if they’re Danish babies…
While Denmark wants an increase in the birth rate, however, they are also warning incoming refugees to stay away.
They just passed a law which lets Danish authorities to seize any assets exceeding $1,450 from asylum-seekers
They cut social benefits to refugees and immigrants by 45% and plan to demolish the “ghettoes” most new immigrants live in

12. How Germany Deals With Low Birth Rate
The German birth rate is one of the lowest in the world – the population could shrink by 16% by 2060
Unlike Denmark, Germany is offering asylum to more refugees than any other European nation  
Germany can’t afford to discourage the immigration that could stave off crisis
Germany’s solution has downsides: the dramatic change in population dynamics has led to xenophobic violence and some civil unrest. 
Also unlike Denmark, Germany has not experienced a dramatic rise in support for anti-immigration parties

13. Hungary
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban does not want more immigrants
He said in a speech: “we do not want our own colour…mixed with those of others.”
Their birth rate is very low so he encourages women to have more babies.
The goal is reach replacement level by 2030
Birth rate has already gone from 1.3 in 2011 to 1.5 now
His government is offering an impressive package of incentives:
up to 5 free IVF cycles for couples having trouble conceiving
3 years parental leave
Housing subsidies per child running up to tens of thousands of euros
Subsidized childcare

14. Singapore https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jxU89x78ac
In 2012, Singapore authorities partnered with Mentos to put together “National Night,” a campaign meant to encourage Singaporean couples to let their “patriotism explode” and help the nation increase its 0.78 children per woman rate

15. Poland
o Polish government encourages people to “breed like bunnies”

16. Romania
In 1966, communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu took some drastic measures to increase the birth rate
He wanted to increase the population by 7 million
Childless men and women over the age of 25 were subject to a new tax that could be as much as 20% of their income.
Divorce was made incredibly difficult
The legal importation of birth control was halted
Police were installed in hospitals to make sure that no illegal abortions were performed
This resulted in the deaths of around 10,000 women in illegal abortions
In the 1980s they again faced a declining birth rate and tried new things:
Women were subjected to monthly gynecological exams to detect pregnancies in their earliest stage and to ensure that the pregnancies came to term.

17. Russia
In 2007, the government declared a National Day of Conception, in the hopes that giving couples the day off from work to do their civic duty would result in a baby spike 9 months later
Women who gave birth that day could win refrigerators, money, and even cars.
It seems to have worked—by 2013, Russia’s birth rate had surpassed America’s.

18. South Korea
One of the biggest concerns that South Korean parents have is being able to pay for their children’s care and education
So the government is:
Building more cheap governmental childcare facilities
Actively trying to weaken the perception that a college degree is necessary for success
The government doles out 500,000-won bonuses (about $500) to expectant couples to help cover prenatal expenses
For the first year after the child is born, parents get monthly cash allowances of up to 200,000 won—an amount that increases with each subsequent child
Free childcare
Subsidized fertility treatments
Housing assistance
Free parking for families

19. In 2010, the South Korean government decided to turn off the lights in its offices at 7:30 p.m. on the third Wednesday of every month—which the government dubbed “Family Day”
People were encouraged to go spend time with their families (or to go spend some time with their partner and making some new babies)

20. Japan’s Population Decline
Japan is projected to lose about 15% of its population by 2050
Women are having fewer babies later in life = very low birth rate
People are getting married later or not at all
The # of kids is shrinking so much that Japan loses about 400 schools a year
Japan is one of the planet’s oldest societies, with a median age of years
There is a growing shortage of labour. This will hurt the world’s third- largest economy
They get very few immigrants to fill the gap

21. Why is this happening in Japan?

22. Japan – so many old people
Today, over 25% of Japan's 127 million people are over 65.
By 2055, it's estimated to be 40%.
This will create a ton of healthcare costs.

23. Extreme Work Culture
Japan's extreme work culture, where employees are expected to work into the night, go out drinking with their colleagues, and potentially move across Japan or abroad to advance their careers
The lifestyle of the “salaryman”
No time or energy left to date

24. Working Women
70% of Japanese women give up work as soon as they have their first child
Japanese men don’t help with the children as much
Not enough daycares
Moms that do go back to work are often vilified and looked down on
Married working women are sometimes demonized as oniyome, or "devil wives”
Married women are often passed over for promotions since it is assumed they will get pregnant and leave

25. Young People Not Dating
61% of unmarried men and 49% of women aged were not in any kind of romantic relationship, a rise of almost 10% from five years earlier.
45% of women aged "were not interested in or despised sexual contact". More than a quarter of men felt the same way
Some resort to virtual reality girlfriends

26. Pensions
Now older people can get pensions when they retire, so they don’t have to rely on children to care for them when they are elderly

27. A Train Stop For A Single Person
A train in Hokkaido, Japan stops twice a day for a single passenger – a high school student on her way to school
The station was slated to close in 2012 due to its remote location
The train schedule is based on the girl’s timetable, and so passes by the station on her holidays
That’s how much the population has shrunk in some areas

28. https://www. youtube. com/watch
3:46 Japan's Population Decline: Incredible Facts About Japan's Aging Population 2:25 How Japan’s Economy is Ruining Its Youth 16:40 Japan's Baby Drain (just the first 3.5 minutes or so)

29. China’s 1 Child Policy
Introduced in 1979 (after a decade- long two-child policy), modified in the mid-80s to let rural parents a second child if the first was a daughter, and then lasted until eliminated at the end of
Now they have a 2-Child Policy
BT70_RIWM 1:32
According to the Chinese government, 400 million births were prevented, though many scholars dispute this claim
Places with similar socioeconomic development like Thailand and Iran, along with the Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, achieved similar declines of fertility without a one-child policy

30. China’s Gender Imbalance
Where are the missing girls?
Adopted out
Sex selective abortions
Unregistered births
Being excluded from the family register means they do not possess a Hukou (an identifying document, similar to a social security card.) They do not legally exist and cannot access most public services, such as education and health care, and do not receive protection under the law
Female infanticide
117 baby boys were being born to every 100 girls in the 2000s
There will be 30 million more men than women in 2020, potentially leading to social instability, and courtship-motivated emigration
Tens of millions of young men, especially poor, rural men cannot find or afford wives

31. India’s Forced Sterilization
In India, "the Emergency" refers to a 21-month period from when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had a state of emergency declared across the country
For much of the Emergency, most of Gandhi's political opponents were imprisoned and the press was censored.
Several other human rights violations were reported from the time, including a forced mass- sterilization campaign
The campaign primarily involved getting males to undergo vasectomy.
Quotas were set up that enthusiastic supporters and government officials worked hard to achieve.
There were allegations of coercion of unwilling candidates
In 1976–1977, the programme led to 8.3 million sterilisations, most of them forced, up from 2.7 million the previous year.

32. Reflection on Demographics
Should the citizens of the fast growing countries have, as a basic human right, the opportunity to migrate to less densely settled countries?
Are the governments of ‘overpopulated’ countries justified in legally requiring small families? In requiring involuntary sterilization?