Factors affecting the World's Population

Factors affecting the World's Population

1. Health

   • A high standard of health care in a country will help to lower infant mortality, reducing the birth rate as people don't need to have as many children in order to ensure some survive
   • High health care standards ensure people have good access to modern health treatment, prolonging life expectancy and lowering death rate
   • In areas with balanced, healthy diets the death rate will be lowered but in countries with poor diets or a lack of food the death rate will increase due to malnutrition

2. Education

   • Emancipation of women will reduce the birth rate as women are able to get careers rather than staying at home and nurturing children also makes them likely to have children
   • Compulsory education ensures that people are educated about hygiene, STIs and contraceptiom
   • Very high standards of education provide an opportunity for advanced education paving the way for the training of doctors and medicinal researchers potentially lowering the death rate

3. Social provision

   • If proper social care is provided to the elderly and they are well looked after, death rates will be reduced since they are able to live longer
   • If clean water is available, death rate is reduced as water born diseases such as Cholera aren't prevalent
   • The availability of media makes it easier to educate people and raise awareness about outbreaks of diseases potentially reducing death rate

4. Cultural factors

   • In some cultures and religions, people are respected more if they have many children resulting in an increased birth rate
   • Some cultures and religions discourage large families though this is rare. This would have the effect of lowering birth rate
   • Some religions and cultures relegate the role of women preventing them from obtaining an education or career and encouraging them to have large families= increased birth rate

5. Political factors

   • Some countries provide benefits to people who have many children to encourage people to give birth (France) as a result of aging population
   • Some countries offer rewards to couples who have fewer children in order to encourage people to have less children resulting in lowered birth rate
   • During times of warfare the birth rate will fall significantly and the death rate will often rise substantially