Population Growth Theory

. Thomas Robert Malthus can be acknowledged to have laid the foundation and paved the way to future theorists interest in the subject of population growth being a major problem with dire consequences such as poverty and misery. Extensive research on the topic has been done thereafter and a great deal of the theorists concluded that population growth is a problem but moreover it can potentially hinder development as more people equate to a higher demand on resources, services, food and employment. These findings were especially directed to the developing countries as they are characterised as being grossly overpopulated and developing notably slowly. It is important to note that for every view or argument, there is a counter argument. Predecessor

He believed that the Capitalist system was the culprit and the consequences were overpopulation and poverty whereas for socialism, population growth would be readily absorbed by the economy with no repercussions(Weeks,2008).Marx and his academic partner Engels argued with Malthus’ idea that resources could not grow as rapidly as population since they saw no reason to suspect that science and technology could not increase the availability of food and other goods as least as quickly as the population grew(Weeks,2008:84). Marx and Engels argument that science and technology could solve the food shortage problem was a Northern approach to the problem because it assumed that certain conditions such as economic prosperity, efficient market, technological advancement, enabling state and inclusive informed society are in place (Oelofse C, 2006).This puts in question the applicability and validity of this view as most developing countries do not have access technological advances thus food may not be so easily available to them should the population growth rate exceed the food supply as Malthus strongly

They believed that this could be achieved through woman empowerment, education, urbanization and industrialisation (Hunter, 1976).Women empowerment meant that women would be given an equal chance to participate in the labour market thus be economically independent, can engage in the household decision-making process and have the power to determine when and how many children they want to have thus affecting the fertility levels of that country (Phan, 2013). Education plays a huge role in the decline of fertility. A higher level of education meant that people would spend longer time in school and delay marriages and childbearing, it also was associated with rising socioeconomic status and greater awareness of the economic costs of bringing up children (Gould, 2009) .There is then a stronger preference for having smaller families and widening the birth intervals between