Global Demography: The Problem Of Overpopulation
As we grow old people do tend to ask himself or herself. “Am I an economic asset or a burden to my family? “each one of us living in this world and in a specific country does really need to work and strive for a living, weather you are in a Rural or in an Urban place or community we need to find a job that will suit us to have a living.
From the word Global and Demography, it explains and studies the movement of people. Most people in rural areas or communities often do crop cultivation; they do farming and also carpenting. While in Urbanized communities most of them are educated and professionals who works in a company or associations.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority in employment rate the results from the July 2019 Labor Force Survey (LFS) the population under (15) fifteen years old who are working are (73,134) seventy three thousand-one hundred thirty four from (71,561) seventy one thousand-five hundred sixty one last July 2018, while in the Youth population (15-24) fifteen to twentyfour years old are (20,046) twenty thousand-forty six from (19,977) ninety thousand-nine hundred seventy seven last July 2018. And the employment situation in January 2019 is (60%) sixty percent of the population is (15) fifteen years old and over are in labor force as the employment rate is recorded at (94. 8%) ninety four point eight percent, more males are employed than females, more than half of the employed persons are working in services sector, more than (1/4) one-fourth of the employed persons are in elementary occupations, more than (60%) sixty percent of the employed persons are wage and salary workers, (2/3) two-thirds of the total employed persons are full time workers, underemployment rate is registered at (15. 6%) fifteen point six percent, unemployment rate each (5. 2) five point two percent, and four in ten persons are not in the labor force. Furthermore, as what our professor told us in our class that not everyone are professionals in the Philippines, in factonly (10%) ten percent are professionals, (1%) one percent are people who are with a masters or doctorate degree and (89%) eighty-nine percent are unprofessional. It means that still, even if most people in an urbanized area or community or in a city are studying or attending to a school, most of them did not graduate with a degree and not everyone do gets a degree.
In the Philippines we all know that most families here are huge and extended that’s why most families in rural communities or area are living with an extended family because also they do believe that themore their children are the better, for their farm or family business and lands. However, in an urban community or area not everyone do have a full, huge or an extended family because, maybe they are too focused on their careers or on their own jobs or businesses and or sometimes couples in a city do live on their own, most of them are separated and in a long distance relationship, and some are not planning to have a children.
Although most of the families in an urban city or area are not that huge and extended our society is still developing and still the population are growing. The population growth is increasing and increasing especially, in a country like the Philippines who are even if in a City or in an Urban community most of the families live in a squatter area and we all know that these people are unprofessional; they are the people who are bored in life and makessex and laboring a child as like an “occupation” some parents also sell their children and some parents takes the chance to make their children as laborers. That is why the rate of the children who are working is recorded at (94. 8%) ninety-four point eight percent are fifteen years old and under are in labour force. And this overpopulation will also lead us to global environmental disasters that will also lead us to food shortage and mass starvation. That is why some places or countries like China do have their well-known “one-child policy” that begins from the late (1970s) nineteen-seventies then came the “two-child policy” beginning from 1980s. This birth planning program is clearly distinct from other most countries in the world, where they usually do use contraception for either birth control or family planning. While China does have their way or process on population control for family planning some countries do also have programs for population or birth control like contraception and sterilization. These contraceptives or birth control are condoms, patches, female condoms, oral contraception, emergency pills, vaginal rings, IUD or intrauterine device, BC or birth control implant, spermicidal, vaginal douche, vasectomy, calendar method, coitus interruptus, surgical sterilization, and or abortion that prevents the sperm to reach the females’ egg, these are the methods that females usually do when they are not yet ready to be a mother or they don’t really want to have a responsibility. As this contraception is slowly and widely supported by some government officials and the society globally, of course there are still some who criticize and disagrees for these birth controls. As a matter of fact, commonly most of the religious people are the ones who disagree with these birth controls and contraception especially in abortion because they do believe that abortion is also action of killing or murdering the baby or the fetus inside of a females’ womb.
These are some of the perils of overpopulation that makes the world more and more frightening. Let us face the fact that overpopulation is the most pressing environmental issues that silently aggravating the forces behind the global warming, environmental pollution, habitat loss, the sixth mass instinct ion, intensive farming practices, and the consumption of the finite natural resources, such as fresh water, arable land, and fossil fuels. At speeds faster than their rate regeneration. However, ecological issues are just the beginning of loss of fresh water, species extinction, and lower life expectancy rate in the fastest growing countries. Increased habitat loss, increased emergence of new epidemics and pandemics, depletion of natural resources, “less freedom, more restrictions”, more intensive farming practices, increased global warming and climate change, and elevate crime rate. As these continues to increase the worst the effects could the world would get, expecting to have more and worst than the worse. As our population would increase the more it gets difficult for us in solving the problem because as of today more and more people are suffering in poverty, with the hunger and scarcity of resources.
Though yes, birth control and contraception, especially abortion is frightening and alarming but let us not forget that overpopulation is also alarming and really frightening especially that now we all know the effects of the increasing population in the world. As for now let us look to those several impractical population control solutions that is really feasible and or possible to fight against overpopulation across the globe. According to O’Donnel (2018) the first solution is sex education, it is the first line defense on the topic of overpopulation. The more kids know about safe sex, the less likely they are to have unplanned pregnancies at a young age. Giving the youth information about safe sex at an early age is often uncomfortable, but it’s one of the necessary overpopulation solutions we need to start considering. Second is the increasing access to contraception, a lot of unplanned pregnancies occur across the world because women and men don’t have access to contraception. Birth control is extremely difficult to get in certain parts of the world, and when combined with poor sex education the result is often an unplanned pregnancy. And even birth control is available, some people can’t afford to pay for it. One solution to this problem would be to implement a system where people can get contraception for free or at a significant discount.
The third solution is general education, sex education is paramount, but it goes hand-in-hand with overall education. The relationship between education and a lower fertility rate is especially event in women, as statistics from both developed and developing countries prove. Education opens the door to more opportunities and higher-paying jobs. More than anything, it shows an alternative future that’s independent of having children. In many developing countries, becoming a wife and a mother is one of the only prospects young girls see. When they attend school, they begin to understand a way they can make a life form themselves independently. And lastly the best and more feasible of the solutions is to teach people especially the youth about overpopulation, despite the dangers that our growing population presents, so many people are ignorant of how big a problem it is. Most people are aware of the environmental problem, but many argue that overpopulation is an even greater threat. Making people aware of the overpopulation crisis is one of the overpopulation solutions that are easy and relatively cheap to implement. We need to start teaching about where humanity is heading in schools and extend education to responsible family planning in adulthood.
Decreasing the population is the only way to limit the population on this planet is to stop people from having so many kids. Having a large family has many benefits, but unfortunately, it’s environmentally responsible. The biggest problem we need to tackle is unwanted and unplanned pregnancies. If we can limit the number of people who have accidental children, we’d be taking massive strives to restricting the number of people on this earth.
Overpopulation is the ballooning or increasing of the number of people of a specific country or place. The other cause of this is that more people are either in born or moved in a specific country or city for migration. One example is our country Philippines. Most Filipino are poor families not relying on the family planning. They make a lot of children, then they will blame the government that they are poor. Filipino people are mostly Catholics and most of them don’t believe on family planning because we all do know that mostly Filipino families are commonly huge and extended, but I don’t think that the problem sit on the people why there’s a balloon or increase in the number of population in the Philippines but it can be lack of education and job opportunity. In the Philippines, one of the most common problem or issue is poverty; and its main reason is overpopulation.
The two Negative Effects of Overpopulation that our country is encountering are: first the environmental Impact. The most obvious effect of overpopulation is the damage we’re doing to the environment. The more people on the planet, the more resources we’re using and the more space we need. When we use more resources and space, the natural environment suffers. We’re not in a great environmental place as it stands, but the more people we add, the worse the problem will get. Every person adds to the global pollution in one way or another, even if you only account for their food and transportation. Second is the Increasing poverty. The more people a country has, the fewer jobs are available for their citizens. Meanwhile, the demand for housing will increase while the supply decreases. The cost of living will rise at the same time as the unemployment rate, and homelessness people will also increase. When this happens, crime will take a steep incline as more people see no other option out of their current situation. Drug use will become more frequent, and society will slowly deteriorate from the inside. Food will cost more, and healthcare will virtually nonexistent for those who can’t pay the high prices. As what Tal, A. , (2013) said Overpopulation remains the leading driver of hunger, desertification, species depletion and a range of social maladies across the planet.
In our society, people are added and born because humans want to multiply more. In this case, the more population arise, the more technology like appliances, gadgets, vehicles and natural resources will be used and consumed. The essential materials for survival such as transport, water, food, shelter, and social amenities might be more available. This contributes regularly to environmental deterioration, worsening the quality of life, and disintegration of the population. This can cause extra expense of the government because they are the one who helps and provides some of our needs. Some countries are overpopulated and poverty is living on it. There are families tried to manage and help each other but still it is hard for them to support and provide their needs because they do not have enough income. And that they do not know how they will control their life to prevent sufferings and discomforts. As like these arises again the top solutions for me would be Spreading awareness about overpopulation. This is to aware how their actions affect to the environment and keep its population to a sustainable level.
1. Parental guidance. Parents must teach children at their early age to be aware about overpopulation, talk things that might prevent them to turn on that kind of situation.
2. Birth Control. In our generation, early pregnancy is rampant today. Teens and adults must be oriented. For adults, they have to know their limits on giving birth. For the teens, they have to be aware of how hard at the early age bear and take care of a child at the young age.
3. Implementing new government policies. Like one-child policy or two-children policy to avoid overpopulation. In reality, overpopulation is hard to solve. If we are an educated person, we know our limitations and aware of the possible outcomes in our society.
By these solutions these might be good enough to make people look on their environment closely. According to Alexandra Paul in a Ted Talk series thirteen years ago, she discusses the overpopulation problems of 7 billion humans multiplying at a rate of 1 billion more people every 12 years and offers a simple solution: Transform negative cultural attitudes about the Only Child, and celebrate the short and long term benefits of small families.
The largest threat to our future and the future of our planet. Overpopulation is more of a threat than any other issues in the world, as too many humans are what is causing the problem to begin with, making the problem one and the same. Overpopulation causes incalculable problems. Overpopulation is one problem which can create many other critical problems
