essay population problem

Overpopulation: Cause and Effect

A large group of people walking in a city

Conversations about overpopulation can quickly become controversial because they beg the question: Who exactly is the cause of the problem and what, if anything, should be done about it? Many population experts worry discussions around overpopulation will be abused by small-minded people to suggest some are the “right people” to be on the planet (like themselves), and some people are “the wrong people” (usually people in poverty, people of color, foreigners, and so on—you get the drift). But there are no “right” or “wrong” people on the planet, and discussing the problems of global overpopulation can never be an excuse, or in any way provide a platform, for having that type of conversation.

Each human being has a legitimate claim on a sufficient and fair amount of Earth’s resources. But with a population approaching 8 billion, even if everyone adopted a relatively low material standard of living like the one currently found in Papua New Guinea , it would still push Earth to its ecological breaking point. Unfortunately, the “average person” on Earth consumes at a rate over 50% above a sustainable level. Incredibly, the average person in the United States uses almost five times more than the sustainable yield of the planet.

When we use the term “overpopulation,” we specifically mean a situation in which the Earth cannot regenerate the resources used by the world’s population each year. Experts say this has been the case every year since 1970, with each successive year becoming more and more damaging. To help temper this wildly unsustainable situation, we need to understand what’s contributing to overpopulation and overconsumption and how these trends are affecting everything from climate change to sociopolitical unrest.

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The causes of overpopulation.

Today the Earth is home to over 8 billion people. By 2100 the population is on track to hit 10.8 billion , according to the United Nations — and that’s assuming steady fertility declines in many countries. Interestingly, if extra progress is made in women’s reproductive self-determination, and fertility falls more than the United Nations assumes is likely, the population in 2100 might be a relatively smaller 7.3 billion.

For now, the world’s population is still increasing in huge annual increments (about 80 million per year), and our supply of vital non-renewable resources are being exhausted. Many factors contribute to these unsustainable trends , including falling mortality rates, underutilized contraception, and a lack of education for girls.

Falling Mortality Rate

The primary (and perhaps most obvious) cause of population growth is an imbalance between births and deaths. The infant mortality rate has decreased globally, with 4.1 million infant deaths in 2017 compared to 8.8 million in 1990, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This is welcome public health news, of course.

At the same time, lifespans are increasing around the world. Those of us who are alive today will likely live much longer than most of our ancestors. Global average life expectancy has more than doubled since 1900 , thanks to advancements in medicine, technology, and general hygiene. Falling mortality rates are certainly nothing to complain about either, but widespread longevity does contribute to the mathematics of increasing population numbers.

Underutilized Contraception

The global fertility rate has fallen steadily over the years, down from an average of 5 children per woman in 1950 to 2.4 children per woman today, according to the UN Population Division . Along with that promising trend, contraceptive use has slowly but steadily increased globally, rising from 54% in 1990 to 57.4% in 2015. Yet, on the whole, contraceptive use is still underutilized. For example, according to the WHO, an estimated 214 million women in developing countries who want to avoid pregnancy are not using modern contraceptives.

These women aren’t using contraceptives for a variety of reasons, including social norms or religious beliefs that discourage birth control, misconceptions about adverse side effects, and a lack of agency for women to make decisions around sex and family planning. An estimated 44% of pregnancies were unintended worldwide between 2010-2014. Getting more women the access and agency to utilize family planning methods could go a long way in flattening the population curve.

Lack of Female Education

Although female access to education has increased over the years, the gender gap remains. Roughly 130 million girls worldwide are out of school currently, and an estimated 15 million girls of primary school age will never learn to read and write, compared with 10 million boys.

Increasing and encouraging education among women and girls can have a number of positive ripple effects, including delayed childbearing , healthier children, and an increase in workforce participation. Plenty of evidence suggests a negative correlation between female education and fertility rates.

If increased female education can delay or decrease fertility and provide girls with opportunities beyond an early marriage, it could also help to mitigate current population trends.

The Effects of Overpopulation

It is only logical that an increase in the world’s population will cause additional strains on resources. More people means an increased demand for food, water, housing, energy, healthcare, transportation, and more. And all that consumption contributes to ecological degradation, increased conflicts, and a higher risk of large-scale disasters like pandemics.

Ecological Degradation

An increase in population will inevitably create pressures leading to more deforestation, decreased biodiversity, and spikes in pollution and emissions, which will exacerbate climate change . Ultimately, unless we take action to help minimize further population growth heading into the remainder of this century, many scientists believe the additional stress on the planet will lead to ecological disruption and collapse so severe it threatens the viability of life on Earth as we know it.

Each spike in the global population has a measurable impact on the planet’s health. According to estimates in a study by Wynes and Nicholas (2017) , a family having one fewer child could reduce emissions by 58.6 tonnes CO2-equivalent per year in developed countries.

Increased Conflicts

The scarcity brought about by environmental disruption and overpopulation has the potential to trigger an increase in violence and political unrest. We’re already seeing wars fought over water, land, and energy resources in the Middle East and other regions, and the turmoil is likely to increase as the global population grows even larger.

Higher Risk of Disasters and Pandemics

Many of the recent novel pathogens that have devastated humans around the world, including COVID-19, Zika virus, Ebola, and West Nile virus, originated in animals or insects before passing to humans. Part of the reason the world is entering “ a period of increased outbreak activity ” is because humans are destroying wildlife habitats and coming into contact with wild animals on a more regular basis. Now that we’re in the midst of a pandemic, it has become clear how difficult it is to social distance in a world occupied by nearly 8 billion people.

Discover the real causes and effects of overpopulation

What can be done about overpopulation.

When addressing overpopulation, it’s crucial to take an approach of providing empowerment while mobilizing against anybody advocating for the use of coercion or violence to solve our problems. The combined efforts of spreading knowledge about family planning, increasing agency among women , and debunking widely held myths about contraception will measurably change the trajectory of the world’s population.

As we carry out our work at Population Media Center (PMC), we see first-hand that spreading awareness about family planning methods and the ecological and economic benefits of having smaller families can change reproductive behavior. For example, listeners of our Burundian radio show Agashi (“Hey! Look Again!”) were 1.7 times more likely than non-listeners to confirm that they were willing to negotiate condom use with a sexual partner and 1.8 times more likely than non-listeners to say that they generally approve of family planning for limiting the number of children.

CELEBRATING EARTH DAY WITH CONVERSATIONS ON OVERPOPULATION

In the spirit of Earth Day, it’s crucial to approach discussions about overpopulation with sensitivity and inclusivity. Overpopulation conversations should focus on the collective responsibility to steward Earth’s resources sustainably, rather than assigning blame or dividing communities. By fostering understanding and promoting access to education and reproductive health services, we can work towards a more equitable and sustainable future for all.

At PMC we harness the power of storytelling to empower listeners to live healthier and more prosperous lives, which in turn contributes to stabilizing the global population so that people can live sustainably with the world’s renewable resources. Discover how PMC is taking action against overpopulation today!

We’re Focused on Making an Impact. Learn More About Our Work.

Global sustainability.

Women’s Rights

Girl child sits at a school desk with a pencil in her hand ready to continue her work.

How Is Population Growth Responsible for the Growing Problem of Water Scarcity

What lies ahead after the world’s population reaches 8 billion , how does overpopulation affect the economy, join us in promoting the equitable, sustainable world we’re all fighting for, one action at a time..

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Essay On Population

Nowadays, population is a major topic of concern for everyone as the population of the world has increased to 8 billion. A population is the total number of people living in a particular area. This count helps the government allocate adequate resources to each area. Here are some sample essays on the topic ' Population' .

100 Words Essay On Population

Population refers to the total number of people living in a specific area or country. The global population has been increasing rapidly in recent decades and is projected to reach around 9 billion by 2050 . The population growth rate varies by country and region, with some areas experiencing higher rates of growth than others. Population growth can have a significant impact on resources, environment and economy of a country. It also poses challenges such as food and water shortages, housing and infrastructure problems and overburdening of healthcare and education systems. It's important for governments to implement policies to address these issues and ensure sustainable development.

200 Words Essay On Population

The global population has been increasing rapidly in recent decades. According to the United Nations, the world population reached 7.9 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach around 9.7 billion by 2050. This population growth rate varies by country and region, with some areas experiencing higher rates of growth than others. Developing countries tend to have higher population growth rates compared to developed countries.

Impact on Resources

The increasing population has a significant impact on resources. As the population grows, the demand for food, water, and energy increases. This can lead to issues such as food and water shortages, as well as strain on energy resources. Additionally, the increasing population also puts pressure on natural resources, such as forests and land, leading to issues such as deforestation and land degradation.

Impact on Environment

The increasing population also has a significant impact on the environment. As the population grows, so does the amount of waste and pollution produced. This can lead to issues such as air and water pollution, as well as strain on natural systems such as oceans and rivers. Additionally, the increasing population also puts pressure on biodiversity, leading to loss of species and ecosystems.

Impact on Economy

The increasing population also has an impact on the economy. As the population grows, so does the demand for housing, infrastructure, and services such as healthcare and education. This can lead to issues such as housing and infrastructure problems, as well as strain on healthcare and education systems. Additionally, the increasing population can also put pressure on employment and job markets.

500 Words Essay On Population

Population growth: a global phenomenon.

India's Overpopulation

India, with a population of over 1.3 billion , is facing the consequences of overpopulation. The rapid population growth has put a strain on resources, resulting in issues such as food and water shortages, as well as strain on energy resources. The water crisis in India, where over half of the population is facing high to extreme water stress, is a prime example of how overpopulation can affect the availability of resources. Additionally, the increasing population also puts pressure on infrastructure, leading to issues such as housing and transportation.

China's One-Child Policy

China, with a population of over 1.4 billion, has implemented a one-child policy to control its population growth. The policy, which was in effect from 1979 to 2015, aimed to slow down the population growth and improve the standard of living. While the policy did lead to a decrease in population growth, it also had negative consequences such as a gender imbalance and an aging population.

Singapore's Aging Population

Singapore, with a population of around 5.7 million, has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world. The low fertility rate, coupled with an increasing life expectancy, has led to an aging population. This has put a strain on the country's healthcare and pension systems, as well as the workforce. The government has implemented various measures, such as incentives for couples to have more children and encouraging immigration, to address the issue of an aging population.

Population growth is a global phenomenon that affects not only the resources and environment, but also the economy and society as a whole. It's important for governments to implement policies to address the challenges posed by population growth and ensure sustainable development. This can include investing in infrastructure, implementing measures to reduce pollution and waste, and encouraging family planning and education programs. Additionally, it's important to find sustainable solutions to the challenges posed by population growth in order to ensure a future where everyone has access to the resources they need to live a healthy and fulfilling life.

What Can We Do

As students, there are several ways to educate society about population:

Raise awareness through class projects and presentations: Students can create class projects and presentations that educate their peers and teachers about the issue of population growth. They can present the information in an interactive and engaging way, using real-life examples, statistics, and videos.

Participate in population-related events: Students can participate in population-related events such as seminars, workshops, and conferences. This will give them the opportunity to learn more about the issue and to share their knowledge with others.

Use social media to spread awareness: Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are powerful tools that students can use to raise awareness about population growth. They can create posts and share infographics that educate their peers and the general public about the issue.

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Population Growth Essay Writing Guide

Academic writing

Essay paper writing

Working on a population essay or research paper? We understand the struggle. Therefore, we have prepared the list of the greatest topics for you to choose from as well as useful tips that will help you submit an impeccable work.

Population essay topics

Essay on the principle of population
Essay on population definition
Population genetics essay
21 st century global population essay
Population development essay
Essay on the history of population growth
Essay on population crisis
Agricultural revolution and population growth essay
Short essay on world population becoming smarter
Aging population opinion essay
Essay on population explosion
Essay about population problem in Asia
Relationship between national wealth and population health essay
Population and environment essay
Essay on increasing population
Cause and effect essay on population growth: What is the reason of current overpopulation issue?
Importance of population education essay
Effective means of population control essay
Population control argumentative essay
Can we solve overpopulation problems essay
Effect of population on environment essay
How to control population essay

Tips for writing an essay on population

Make an outline. Once you do your research, create a well-detailed plan where you include all the essential points and ideas for each paragraph of your paper. You can use the example from the section below and build on it with the information you have found.
Research carefully. Try using Google Scholar to search for articles and books on the topic if you have hard times determining which sources are credible.
Don’t fake your references or just copy information. Nowadays, there are various tools for checking works for plagiarism. Therefore, do not put your academic reputation at risk – use real sources and your own words when describing what the author was writing about.
Mind your language. Of course, an essay is not a scientific article for a reputable journal, but you still need to be very careful with the word choice. Contractions or slang would not be appropriate here.
Provide specific examples and numbers where applicable. For instance, essay writing on population explosion would require you to indicate where, when, and how many people were born in certain time periods and why it happened.
Proofread your writing. This will help you to avoid submitting a work full of mistakes, which will inevitably lower your mark.

Essay outline

Introduction.

Start with a hook phrase, which can be a question, a quote, or just an interesting fact. After that, write a few sentences explaining why your topic is important and necessary to research. The main point of an essay on population should be clearly stated in the last sentence of the paper – a thesis statement. Give a brief overview of the points you are going to discuss but do not go into the details – you will be able to do it in the body of the work.

Depending on the word limit set for the assignment, the body of your paper might be divided into a few sections with distinct headings. Each section or paragraph should start with the introduction of the idea you are going to discuss. Next, you will have to provide some factual information to support it, and explain your own opinion if applicable. In the end, it would be necessary to sum up what you have discussed and transition into the next paragraph.

Population essay conclusion.

In the final paragraph, restate the thesis and the main ideas that were reviewed in the body of the paper. You cannot introduce any new facts in the conclusion – only synthesize what has already been discussed. Finish your essay by proving that you have accomplished the purpose of writing the paper or leave the reader with some idea to think about further.

Population research paper topics

Research paper about homelessness population
Aging population research paper
Religion and overpopulation
Human population growth research paper
Birth control and women’s human rights
The impact of overpopulation on the wildlife
India population crisis
The impact of overpopulation on the environment
Bangladesh population crisis
Population, migration, and urbanization
Global warming and overpopulation: Where is the link?
The issue of food and water shortage
Statistics of population changes research paper
The effects of population growth on the economy

Writing a research paper

Choose a narrow topic. It is rather hard to write a research paper about population in general, as the topic is really vast. Instead, you may concentrate on some population issues, trends, or other more specific topics, which can be studied thoroughly.
Be careful with citations. In your research paper, you will need to include and cite a lot of information. Learn how to do it according to the style you stick to and cite all factual data taken from other sources.
Check a few good population research paper examples. If it is hard for you to visualize how your research paper should look like, find a few sample works. Pay attention to how the text is outlined, what information is cited, how transitions are used, and how the info is presented in general. Try to find research paper examples about population control, overpopulation crisis, shortage of resources, and other related topics to understand what points might work for your own paper.
Develop a strong thesis statement. It should be short, to-the-point, and consistent. You have to summarize your main claim in one or two sentences in such a way that it will be clear and interesting for your audience.
Avoid filler phrases. “In conclusion,” “needless to say,” and all the other parenthetic words do not bring any value to your writing. Instead, try to come up with meaningful transitions to move from one paragraph to another one smoothly.

Research paper outline

Introduction
Methodology
Literature review
Results/Findings

You may also be asked to add an abstract before the intro to give your readers a quick overview of the paper. Depending on the length of the text, it might be necessary to add a table of contents to guide your audience on where to find certain information. If there are some figures that you wanted to include in the paper but they take too much space, you can refer to them in the text but insert them into the appendices section after the reference page.

Research questions about population

Here are some of the research paper questions about population that you may choose to answer in your paper:

What are the major negative consequences of overpopulation?
Why some countries are overpopulated while others are underpopulated?
How fast is the population increasing today compared to in the past?
What factors influence current population trends?
What may the population trends be in 50 years?
Are we on the verge of food and water shortage?
Is population growth still an issue?
How many people can Earth support?
Why should we be concerned about current population growth rates?
Is religion an obstacle to population stabilization?

Facts for a research paper or essay on population

In general, more than 107 billion people were born in the history of humanity. Thus, 6.5% of all people born in the history of humankind live on Earth today.
In 2009, for the first time in history, an urban population was equal to a rural one amounting to 3.4 billion people. It is expected that in the future, an increasing part of the world population will be represented by citizens (that is, the urban population will continue to grow faster than the world population as a whole), which is confirmed by the latest data.
In 2010, about 60% of the world’s population lived in Asia, 15.5% - in Africa, and 10.4% - in Europe. In 2050, according to the UN forecast, more than half of the world’s population will live in Asia, 25% in Africa, 8.2% in Latin America, 7.4% in Europe, and 4.7% in North America.
The largest state in terms of population is China. After 2025, India is likely to become a leader. Until 1991, USSR had the third-largest population. After its disintegration, the US took its place. Indonesia and Brazil occupy the fourth and fifth places. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Russia occupy the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth places, respectively.
As the UN report indicates, by the end of this century, the world’s population will be more than two times higher in comparison with 2011 and will reach 15 billion people.
The current population of the planet has doubled since the 1960s. This process is caused by the improvement of the quality of medical care and medical products as well as high fertility in the countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In addition, a certain role was played by the reduction of infant mortality and the increase in life expectancy on all continents of the planet.
Some experts question the figure of 15 billion inhabitants by the year 2100 proposed by the UN. They are convinced that the population will not reach such a catastrophic scale if appropriate measures are taken.
The author of the first essay on population was a popular economist Thomas Robert Malthus. His main work, An Essay on the Principle of Population, played a remarkable role in the development of economic science and demography.
In the mid-60s of the 20th century, humanity first paid attention to the problem of overpopulation and the depletion of resources. The community of the world’s largest businessmen, politicians, and public figures, united by the idea of preserving the natural environment on Earth have created a so-called Club of Rome. This initiated a large-scale research to find ways to curb the crisis.

Environmental issues

While writing an essay on the ecological effects of increased population, you may describe the current state of things:

The situation in the field of renewable resources deteriorates. Scientists warn that very soon, we will experience a water, wood, fish shortage, as well as reduced soil fertility.
Waste products accumulate and pollute the environment.
More investment, energy, materials, and labor costs are required to eliminate the negative consequences of using resources, e.g., for sewage treatment, irrigation control, air purification, etc.
A significant part of the capital, raw materials, energy resources, and labor costs is spent on solving the tasks of the defense industry.
Investments in human resources decline, and the situation with education and healthcare deteriorates.
The balance between the use of raw materials, energy resources, and the process of environmental pollution is disturbed.

Problem of population aging

According to the UN, during 1994-2014, the number of people over 60 years has doubled. In 2014, the number of older adults in the world exceeded the number of children under the age of five.
Now, in 15 EU countries, above 15% of citizens are at the age of 65 years and higher. The youngest country is Ireland (11.5%), and the oldest one is Sweden (17.5%). However, during the coming decades, the gap will decrease. The elderly group will be joined by generations born during the baby boom period (1946-1964).
Compared to Western European countries, the United States is a younger state: there are less than 13% of people over 65 years old.
The causes of population aging are ambiguous. On the one hand, there is a decline in the birth rate, which leads to a smaller number of children and young people, and on the other hand, there is an increase in life expectancy.
From 1960 to 1990, the number of people of age above 80 years has grown in the EU countries from 5 to 12 million people, that is, by 140%.
Medical care for the elderly involves additional funding, expanding the network of medical, gerontological institutions, and qualitative restructuring of the health care system.
The employment of the elderly population and provision of working places for young seniors are required. It is also important to maintain an active life position of the elderly, involve them in public life, and fight against loneliness.

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The Growth of World Population: Analysis of the Problems and Recommendations for Research and Training (1963)

Chapter: world population problems, world population problems, the growth of world population.

The population of the world, now somewhat in excess of three billion persons, is growing at about two per cent a year, or faster than at any other period in man’s history. While there has been a steady increase of population growth during the past two or three centuries, it has been especially rapid during the past 20 years. To appreciate the pace of population growth we should recall that world population doubled in about 1,700 years from the time of Christ until the middle of the 17th century; it doubled again in about 200 years, doubled again in less than 100, and, if the current rate of population increase were to remain constant, would double every 35 years. Moreover, this rate is still increasing.

To be sure, the rate of increase cannot continue to grow much further. Even if the death rate were to fall to zero, at the present level of human reproduction the growth rate would not be much in excess of three and one-half per cent per year, and the time required for world population to double would not fall much below 20 years.

Although the current two per cent a year does not sound like an extraordinary rate of increase, a few simple calculations demonstrate that such a rate of increase in human population could not possibly continue for more than a few hundred years. Had this rate existed from the time of Christ to now, the world population would have increased in this period by a factor of about 7×10 16 ; in other words, there would be about 20 million individuals in place of each

person now alive, or 100 people to each square foot. If the present world population should continue to increase at its present rate of two per cent per year, then, within two centuries, there will be more than 150 billion people. Calculations of this sort demonstrate without question not only that the current continued increase in the rate of population growth must cease but also that this rate must decline again. There can be no doubt concerning this long-term prognosis: Either the birth rate of the world must come down or the death rate must go back up.

POPULATION GROWTH IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD

The rates of population growth are not the same, of course, in all parts of the world. Among the industrialized countries, Japan and most of the countries of Europe are now growing relatively slowly—doubling their populations in 50 to 100 years. Another group of industrialized countries—the United States, the Soviet Union, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Argentina—are doubling their populations in 30 to 40 years, approximately the world average. The pre-industrial, low-income, and less-developed areas of the world, with two thirds of the world’s population—including Asia (except Japan and the Asiatic part of the Soviet Union), the southwestern Pacific islands (principally the Philippines and Indonesia), Africa (with the exception of European minorities), the Caribbean Islands, and Latin America (with the exception of Argentina and Uruguay)—are growing at rates ranging from moderate to very fast. Annual growth rates in all these areas range from one and one-half to three and one-half per cent, doubling in 20 to 40 years.

The rates of population growth of the various countries of the world are, with few exceptions, simply the differences between their birth rates and death rates. International migration is a negligible factor in rates of growth today. Thus, one can understand the varying rates of population growth of different parts of the world by understanding what underlies their respective birth and death rates.

THE REDUCTION OF FERTILITY AND MORTALITY IN WESTERN EUROPE SINCE 1800

A brief, over-simplified history of the course of birth and death rates in western Europe since about 1800 not only provides a frame of reference for understanding the current birth and death rates in Europe, but also casts some light on the present situation and prospects in other parts of the world. A simplified picture of the population history of a typical western European country is shown in

Figure 1 . Schematic presentation of birth and death rates in western Europe after 1800. (The time span varies roughly from 75 to 150 years.)

Figure 1 . The jagged interval in the early death rate and the recent birth rate is intended to indicate that all the rates are subject to substantial annual variation. The birth rate in 1800 was about 35 per 1,000 population and the average number of children ever born to women reaching age 45 was about five. The death rate in 1800 averaged 25 to 30 per 1,000 population although, as indicated, it was subject to variation because of episodic plagues, epidemics, and crop failures. The average expectation of life at birth was 35 years or less. The current birth rate in western European countries is 14 to 20 per 1,000 population with an average of two to three children born to a woman by the end of childbearing. The death rate is 7 to 11 per 1,000 population per year, and the expectation of life at birth is about 70 years. The death rate declined, starting in the late 18th or early 19th century, partly because of better transport and communication, wider markets, and greater productivity, but more directly because of the development of sanitation and, later, modern medicine. These developments, part of the changes in the whole complex of modern civilization, involved scientific and technological advances in many areas, specifically in public health, medicine, agriculture, and industry. The immediate cause of the decline in the birth rate was the increased deliberate control of fertility within marriage. The only important exception to this statement relates to Ireland, where the decline in the birth rate was brought about by an increase of several years in the age at marriage combined with an increase of 10 to 15 per cent in the proportion of people remaining single. The average age at marriage rose to 28 and more than a fourth of Irish women remained unmarried at age 45. In other countries, however, such social changes have had either insignificant or favorable effects on the birth rate. In these countries—England, Wales, Scotland, Scandinavia, the Low Countries, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and France—the birth rate went down because of the practice of contraception among married couples. It is certain that there was no decline in the reproductive capacity; in fact, with improved health, the contrary is likely.

Only a minor fraction of the decline in western European fertility can be ascribed to the invention of modern techniques of contraception. In the first place, very substantial declines in some European countries antedated the invention and mass manufacture of contraceptive devices. Second, we know from surveys that as recently as just

before World War II more than half of the couples in Great Britain practicing birth control were practicing withdrawal, or coitus interruptus. There is similar direct evidence for other European countries.

In this instance, the decline in fertility was not the result of technical innovations in contraception, but of the decision of married couples to resort to folk methods known for centuries. Thus we must explain the decline in the western European birth rates in terms of why people were willing to modify their sexual behavior in order to have fewer children. Such changes in attitude were doubtless a part of a whole set of profound social and economic changes that accompanied the industrialization and modernization of western Europe. Among the factors underlying this particular change in attitude was a change in the economic consequences of childbearing. In a pre-industrial, agrarian society children start helping with chores at an early age; they do not remain in a dependent status during a long period of education. They provide the principal form of support for the parents in their old age, and, with high mortality, many children must be born to ensure that some will survive to take care of their parents. On the other hand, in an urban, industrialized society, children are less of an economic asset and more of an economic burden.

Among the social factors that might account for the change in attitude is the decline in the importance of the family as an economic unit that has accompanied the industrialization and modernization of Europe. In an industrialized economy, the family is no longer the unit of production and individuals come to be judged by what they do rather than who they are. Children leave home to seek jobs and parents no longer count on support by their children in their old age. As this kind of modernization continues, public education, which is essential to the production of a literate labor force, is extended to women, and thus the traditional subordinate role of women is modified. Since the burden of child care falls primarily on women, their rise in status is probably an important element in the development of an attitude favoring the deliberate limitation of family size. Finally, the social and economic changes characteristic of industrialization and modernization of a country are accompanied by and reinforce a rise of secularism, pragmatism, and rationalism in place of custom and tradition. Since modernization of a nation involves extension of deliberate human control over an increasing range of the environment,

it is not surprising that people living in an economy undergoing industrialization should extend the notion of deliberate and rational control to the question of whether or not birth should result from their sexual activities.

As the simplified representation in Figure 1 indicates, the birth rate in western Europe usually began its descent after the death rate had already fallen substantially. (France is a partial exception. The decline in French births began late in the 18th century and the downward courses of the birth and death rates during the 19th century were more or less parallel.) In general, the death rate appears to be affected more immediately and automatically by industrialization. One may surmise that the birth rate responds more slowly because its reduction requires changes in more deeply seated customs. There is in most societies a consensus in favor of improving health and reducing the incidence of premature death. There is no such consensus for changes in attitudes and behavior needed to reduce the birth rate.

DECLINING FERTILITY AND MORTALITY IN OTHER INDUSTRIALIZED AREAS

The pattern of declining mortality and fertility that we have described for western Europe fits not only the western European countries upon which it is based but also, with suitable adjustment in the initial birth and death rates and in the time scale, eastern and southern Europe (with the exception of Albania), the Soviet Union, Japan, the United States, Australia, Canada, Argentina, and New Zealand. In short, every country that has changed from a predominantly rural agrarian society to a predominantly industrial urban society and has extended public education to near-universality, at least at the primary school level, has had a major reduction in birth and death rates of the sort depicted in Figure 1 .

The jagged line describing the variable current birth rate represents in some instances—notably the United States—a major recovery in the birth rate from its low point. It must be remembered, however, that this recovery has not been caused by a reversion to uncontrolled family size. In the United States, for example, one can scarcely imagine that married couples have forgotten how to employ the contraceptive

techniques that reduced the birth rates to a level of mere replacement just before World War II. We know, in fact, that more couples are skilled in the use of contraception today than ever before. (Nevertheless, effective methods of controlling family size are still unknown and unused by many couples even in the United States.) The recent increase in the birth rate has been the result largely of earlier and more nearly universal marriage, the virtual disappearance of childless and one-child families, and a voluntary choice of two, three, or four children by a vast majority of American couples. There has been no general return to the very large family of pre-industrial times, although some segments of our society still produce many unwanted children.

POPULATION TRENDS IN LESS-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

We turn now to a comparison of the present situation in the less-developed areas with the demographic circumstances in western Europe prior to the industrial revolution. Figure 2 presents the trends of birth and death rates in the less-developed areas in a rough schematic way similar to that employed in Figure 1 . There are several important differences between the circumstances in today’s less-developed areas and those in pre-industrial Europe. Note first that the birth rate in the less-developed areas is higher than it was in pre-industrial western Europe. This difference results from the fact that in many less-developed countries almost all women at age 35 have married, and at an average age substantially less than in 18th-century Europe. Second, many of the less-developed areas of the world today are much more densely populated than was western Europe at the beginning of the industrial revolution. Moreover, there are few remaining areas comparable to North and South America into which a growing population could move and which could provide rapidly expanding markets. Finally, and most significantly, the death rate in the less-developed areas is dropping very rapidly—a decline that looks almost vertical compared to the gradual decline in western Europe—and without regard to economic change.

The precipitous decline in the death rate that is occurring in the low-income countries of the world is a consequence of the development and application of low-cost public health techniques. Unlike

Figure 2 . Schematic presentation of birth and death rates in less-developed countries, mid-20th century. (The steep drop in the death rate from approximately 35 per thousand began at times varying roughly between 1940 and 1960 from country to country.)

the countries of western Europe, the less-developed areas have not had to wait for the slow gradual development of medical science, nor have they had to await the possibly more rapid but still difficult process of constructing major sanitary engineering works and the build-up of a large inventory of expensive hospitals, public health

services, and highly trained doctors. Instead, the less-developed areas have been able to import low-cost measures of controlling disease, measures developed for the most part in the highly industrialized countries. The use of residual insecticides to provide effective protection against malaria at a cost of no more than 25 cents per capita per annum is an outstanding example. Other innovations include antibiotics and chemotherapy, and low-cost ways of providing safe water supplies and adequate environmental sanitation in villages that in most other ways remain relatively untouched by modernization. The death rate in Ceylon was cut in half in less than a decade, and declines approaching this in rapidity are almost commonplace.

The result of a precipitous decline in mortality while the birth rate remains essentially unchanged is, of course, a very rapid acceleration in population growth, reaching rates of three to three and one-half per cent. Mexico’s population, for example, has grown in recent years at a rate of approximately three and one-half per cent a year. This extreme rate is undoubtedly due to temporary factors and would stabilize at not more than three per cent. But even at three per cent per year, two centuries would see the population of Mexico grow to about 13.5 billion people. Two centuries is a long time, however. Might we not expect that long before 200 years had passed the population of Mexico would have responded to modernization, as did the populations of western Europe, by reducing the birth rate? A positive answer might suggest that organized educational efforts to reduce the birth rate are not necessary. But there is a more immediate problem demanding solution in much less than two centuries: Is the current demographic situation in the less-developed countries impeding the process of modernization itself? If so, a course of action that would directly accelerate the decline in fertility becomes an important part of the whole development effort which is directed toward improving the quality of each individual’s life.

POPULATION TRENDS AND THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF PRE-INDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES

The combination of high birth rates and low or rapidly declining death rates now found in the less-developed countries implies two different characteristics of the population that have important impli-

cations for the pace of their economic development. One important characteristic is rapid growth, which is the immediate consequence of the large and often growing difference between birth and death rates; the other is the heavy burden of child dependency which results from a high birth rate whether death rates are high or low. A reduced death rate has only a slight effect on the proportion of children in the population, and this effect is in a rather surprising direction. The kinds of mortality reduction that have actually occurred in the world have the effect, if fertility remains unchanged, of reducing rather than increasing the average age of the population.

Mortality reduction produces this effect because the largest increases occur in the survival of infants, and, although the reduction in mortality increases the number of old persons, it increases the number of children even more. The result is that the high fertility found in low-income countries produces a proportion of children under fifteen of 40 to 45 per cent of the total population, compared to 25 per cent or less in most of the industrialized countries.

What do these characteristics of rapid growth and very large proportions of children imply about the capacity to achieve rapid industrialization? It must be noted that it is probably technically possible in every less-developed area to increase national output at rates even more rapid than the very rapid rates of population increase we have discussed, at least for a few years. The reason at least slight increases in per capita income appear feasible is that the low-income countries can import industrial and agricultural technology as well as medical technology. Briefly, the realistic question in the short run does not seem to be whether some increases in per capita income are possible while the population grows rapidly, but rather whether rapid population growth is a major deterrent to a rapid and continuing increase in per capita income.

A specific example will clarify this point. If the birth rate in India is not reduced, its population will probably double in the next 25 or 30 years, increasing from about 450 million to about 900 million. Agricultural experts consider it feasible within achievable limits of capital investment to accomplish a doubling of Indian agricultural output within the next 20 to 25 years. In the same period the output of the non-agricultural part of the Indian economy probably would be slightly more than doubled if the birth rate remained unchanged.

For a generation at least, then, India’s economic output probably can stay ahead of its maximum rate of population increase. This bare excess over the increase in population, however, is scarcely a satisfactory outcome of India’s struggle to achieve economic betterment. The real question is: Could India and the other less-developed areas of the world do substantially better if their birth rates and thus their population growth rates were reduced? Economic analysis clearly indicates that the answer is yes. Any growth of population adds to the rate of increase of national output that must be achieved in order to increase per capita output by any given amount.

To double per capita output in 30 years requires an annual increase in per capita output of 2.3 per cent; if population growth is three per cent a year, then the annual increase in national output must be raised to 5.3 per cent to achieve the desired level of economic growth. In either instance an economy, to grow, must divert effort and resources from producing for current consumption to the enhancement of future productivity. In other words, to grow faster an economy must raise its level of net investment. Net investment is investment in factories, roads, irrigation networks, and fertilizer plants, and also in education and training. The low-income countries find it difficult to mobilize resources for these purposes for three reasons: The pressure to use all available resources for current consumption is great; rapid population growth adds very substantially to the investment targets that must be met to achieve any given rate of increase in material well-being; and the very high proportions of children that result from high fertility demand that a larger portion of national output must be used to support a very large number of non-earning dependents. These dependents create pressure to produce for immediate consumption only. In individual terms, the family with a large number of children finds it more difficult to save, and a government that tries to finance development expenditures out of taxes can expect less support from a population with many children. Moreover, rapid population growth and a heavy burden of child dependency divert investment funds to less productive uses—that is, less productive in the long run. To achieve a given level of literacy in a population much more must be spent on schools. In an expanding population of large families, construction effort must go into housing rather than into factories or power plants.

Thus the combination of continued high fertility and greatly reduced mortality in the less-developed countries raises the levels of investment required while impairing the capacity of the economy to achieve high levels of investment. Economists have estimated that a gradual reduction in the rate of childbearing, totaling 50 per cent in 30 years, would add about 40 per cent to the income per consumer that could be achieved by the end of that time.

To recapitulate, a short-term increase in per capita income may be possible in most less-developed areas, even if the fertility rate is not reduced. Nevertheless, even in the short run, progress will be much faster and more certain if the birth rate falls. In the longer run, economic progress will eventually be stopped and reversed unless the birth rate declines or the death rate increases. Economic progress will be slower and more doubtful if less-developed areas wait for the supposedly inevitable impact of modernization on the birth rate. They run the risk that rapid population growth and adverse age distribution would themselves prevent the achievement of the very modernization they count on to bring the birth rate down.

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Population Explosion Essay

500+ words population explosion essay.

Population explosion means a sudden increase in the number of individuals in a particular species. The term is used to refer to the world’s human population. In India, the Population explosion has become a severe matter of concern because the increase in population leads to poverty and illiteracy. In this situation, it is difficult to cope with the economy of the country with the rapid growth of the population. The Government of India is now looking into the matter seriously, and many states have framed laws to tackle the problem of population explosion.

Major Causes of Population Explosion

1. increase in birth rate.

One of the major causes for the growth of the population is the high birth rate. During the 1891-1990 period, the birth rate declined from 45.8 per thousand in India, but it is still considered high. So, unfortunately, in India, the birth rate has not seen a decrease in spite of the framing laws in terms of family planning, population education, campaigns, etc.

2. Decrease in Death Rate

In recent years, the decrease in the death rate has been another factor contributing to the rapid growth of the population. In 2001, the death rate in India was about 8.5 per thousand. The death rate has seen a decrease due to advancements in the medical field. For example, chronic diseases like typhoid, chickenpox, etc., are no longer dreaded. Even the infant mortality rate has decreased because of proper sanitation facilities, cleanliness, and better prenatal and postnatal care.

3. Early Marriage

Early marriage is also an essential factor in the rapid increase in population. In India, the marriage age of a girl is 18, which is very low compared to other countries, which is about 23 to 25 years. It leads to a longer span of reproductive activity.

4. Religious and Social Reasons

In India, marriage is considered a compulsory social institution, and every person should marry. Every individual in a joint family takes equal responsibility and has access to an equivalent level of consumption. So, people don’t hesitate to increase their family size to a joint family. In India, most people think that one male child is necessary, and in the expectation of getting a male child, they increase their family size.

Another major cause of the population explosion is poverty. In most families, children become the source of income. From a very young age, children start working for their families instead of going to school, and they become a precious asset to the family. So, every individual becomes an earning member and additional income for the family.

6. Standard of Living

It is seen that people with a low standard of living wish to have additional children as it will be an asset for them rather than a liability. As we know, most of India’s population is uneducated, so they don’t understand the importance of family planning. They are unaware that they can enjoy a better quality of life with a small family.

7. Illiteracy

In India, 60% of the population is either illiterate or has minimum education, which leads to minimal employment opportunities. So, due to the high illiteracy rate and belief in social customs, child marriage and preference for a male child still prevail. As a result, there is a rapid population growth rate in India.

Effects of Population Explosion

1. the problem of unemployment.

An increase in population leads to a vast army of the labour force. But, it is difficult to employ such extensive labour working force due to a shortage of capital resources. Disguised unemployment in rural areas and open unemployment in urban areas are fundamental features of an underdeveloped country like India.

2. More Pressure on Land

Overpopulation creates more pressure on land. It adversely affects the economic development of the country. On the one hand, per capita availability of land goes on diminishing and on the other, the problem of subdivision and fragmentation of holdings increases.

3. Environmental Degradation

Extensive use of natural resources and energy production of oil, natural gas, and coal negatively impacts the planet. An increase in population also leads to deforestation, which directly affects the environment, and it also degrades the soil’s nutritional value and causes landslides and global warming.

So, at last, we can wrap up the essay by stating that overpopulation is considered one of the biggest challenges humanity faces.

Students can also get different essays by visiting BYJU’S website. We have compiled a list of crucial CBSE Essays from an exam perspective.

Frequently Asked Questions on Population Explosion Essay

How can population explosion be controlled.

Awareness campaigns on childbirth control and the gap between consecutive children should reach the common public. It is necessary to take such initiatives to keep the population of a country in control.

Which country has the highest population?

China is a country with a maximum population of about 1.448 billion citizens.

How is the younger generation affected due to this population explosion?

The resources which are meant exclusively for the younger generation get split and are divided due to the population explosion of a country.

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American Academy of Arts  and Sciences

Global Population Aging: Facts, Challenges, Solutions & Perspectives

The rapid aging of populations around the world presents an unprecedented set of challenges: shifting disease burden, increased expenditure on health and long-term care, labor-force shortages, dissaving, and potential problems with old-age income security. We view longer life spans, particularly longer healthy life spans, as an enormous gain for human welfare. The challenges come from the fact that our current institutional and social arrangements are unsuited for aging populations and shifting demographics; our proposed solution is therefore to change our institutions and social arrangements. The first section of this essay provides a statistical overview of global population aging and its contributing factors. The second section outlines some of the major challenges associated with widespread population aging. Finally, the third section of the essay describes various responses to these challenges, both current and prospective, facing individuals, businesses, institutions, and governments.

DAVID E. BLOOM, a Fellow of the American Academy since 2005, is the Clarence James Gamble Professor of Economics and Demography in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His many publications include recent articles in such journals as JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, Finance & Development , and Science .

DAVID CANNING is the Richard Saltonstall Professor of Population Sciences and Professor of Economics and International Health in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His many publications include recent articles in such journals as Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Applied Statistics , and Journal of International Development .

ALYSSA LUBET is a Research Assistant in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research interests include economics, women's health and reproductive health, and population studies.

We are in the midst of an unprecedented transition in global demography. The world’s population is aging rapidly, and older adults compose a larger proportion of the world’s population than ever before–a share that will only increase over the next century. By 2050, the percentage of the United States’ population that is aged sixty years and older will grow from the current figure of about 20 percent to 27 percent. The global number of centenarians worldwide–those aged one hundred years and older–is expected to more than double by 2030, with projections of nearly 3.4 million by 2050. 1 Three major factors are driving this transition: decreasing fertility, increasing longevity, and the aging of large population cohorts.

Falling fertility rates are the main determinant of population aging. Low fertility rates lead to smaller youth cohorts, which create an imbalance in the age structure: older age groups become larger than their younger counterparts. Thanks to accessible and effective birth control, increased child survival, and cultural changes, birth rates have dropped dramatically in the past century. In 1950, the global total fertility rate (TFR), or the average number of children per woman, was about 5; by 2010, that number had dropped by 50 percent. By 2050, the TFR will have dropped even further to about 2.25 children per woman. In many countries, fertility rates are now well below the long-term replacement rate of just over two children per woman.

Changes in fertility rate are accompanied by increased longevity, another driver of population aging. Averaging for sex and location, a child born in 1950 had a life expectancy of only forty-seven years, while an adult who had survived to the age of sixty could expect to live another fourteen years. In contrast, by 2010, life expectancy at birth had increased to seventy years, and continued life expectancy for those aged sixty increased to twenty years. In a number of populations, recent increases in longevity have been attributed to falling rates of tobacco consumption, as well as improvements in medical technologies. 2 By 2050, life expectancy at birth is expected to have risen to nearly seventy-seven years, while life expectancy at age sixty will increase to twenty-two-and-a-half years.

Meanwhile, large population cohorts, such as the United States’ postwar baby boom generation, are moving through middle age and older adulthood. This movement can be seen in Figure 1, which depicts the population of more-developed countries (MDCs) broken down by sex and age group. Males are on the left side of the pyramid and females are on the right. The shifting shape of the population pyramid between the years 2010 and 2050 illustrates the baby boom cohort’s movement from middle into older ages.

These global phenomena–decreasing fertility, increasing longevity, and the aging of large birth cohorts–combine to drive up the percentage of older adults as a share of the global population. In 1950, only 8 percent of the world’s population was sixty years or older; this number increased to 11 percent by 2010. Over the next several decades, this proportion is expected to rise dramatically, reaching a projected 21.2 percent by 2050. The change is even more dramatic for the share of the world’s population aged eighty years or older. This proportion climbed from just 0.6 percent in 1950 to 1.6 percent in 2010, and is projected to make up 4.1 percent of the global population by 2050.

While the population of virtually every country is aging rapidly, there remains considerable variation at both regional and country levels, with strong correlations to differing income levels. MDCs trend toward low fertility and high longevity, and less-developed countries (LDCs) trend toward the opposite. At the low end of the fertility range are the MDCs found in Eu - rope and East Asia, with Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Singapore tied for the lowest TFR of 1.28 children per woman. Meanwhile, Sub-Saharan Africa has a regional TFR of just over 5, while also hosting the highest country-level fertility rates: Somalia (6.61), Mali (6.86), and Niger (7.58). As for longevity, Japan is in the lead with a current life expectancy at birth of eighty-three-and-a-half years, in stark contrast to Sierra Leone, where life expectancy at birth is slightly over forty-five years.

Tables 1 and 2 depict the percent of the elderly population in the world’s most and least population-aged countries, now (2010) and projected in the future (2050). The 2050 figures are based on a medium fertility projection, which assumes that fertility in all major areas will stabilize at replacement level (at slightly over two children per woman). This comparison reveals stark differences in age profiles between countries. For example, currently 23 percent of Germany’s population is aged sixty-five years and older, while the corresponding figure for Qatar (with its large expatriate worker population) is only 1 percent. These rankings are projected to shift considerably in the next half century, with only Japan holding over in the top five most population-aged nations. . . .

Access the full volume here .

1 Unless otherwise stated, population figures are drawn from United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division, Population Estimates and Projections Section, World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision (New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2014), http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm.
2 Colin D. Mathers, Gretchen A. Stevens, Ties Boerma, Richard A. White, and Martin I. Tobias, “Causes of International Increases in Older Age Life Expectancy,” The Lancet 6736 (14) (2014).

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Population Explosion Essay

Essay on Population Explosion

After the Republic of China, India is the most populous country in the world. Presently, India is the second-largest populated country in the world that occupies 2.4% of the world’s land area and represents 17.5% of the world’s population. This means that one out of six people on this planet is an Indian.

It is estimated by the United Nations that India with 1.3 billion inhabitants would surpass China’s population of 1.4 billion by 2024 to become the world’s most populous country. Population Explosion is considered as a threat and burden on the Earth.

What is Population Explosion?

Population Explosion refers to the rapid increase in the number of people in an area. It is a situation where the economy of the country cannot cope up with the rapid growth of the population. Furthermore, in simpler words, it is a situation where the economy cannot provide proper facilities to its people.

Evidently, the largest contributing countries to population explosion are the poorer nations and are termed as developing countries. In India, the state of Uttar Pradesh is the most populated state and Lakshadweep is the least populated. Hence we can say that population explosion is inversely related to the development of that area.

Population Explosion has become the mother of evils in our country because too much population is trapping people in a web of poverty and illiteracy that further escalates the problem. Any time of the day, whether it is a metro station, airport, railway platforms, road, highway bus stop, shopping mall, market, or even a social or religious gathering, there is always a swelling crowd of people in India.

Causes of Population Explosion

The major cause of this population explosion is the difference between the birth rate. The birth rate is the number of individuals born in a population in a given amount of time. The human birth rate is the number of individuals born per year per 1000 in the population. For example, if 35 births occur per year per 1000 individuals, the birth rate is 35 ) .

The death rate is the ratio between deaths and individuals in a particular population during a particular period. In simple words, the incidence of deaths in a given population during a defined time (such as one year) is expressed per 1000 individuals ).

Apart from these, some other factors are partially responsible for population explosion, such as:

A decrease in infant mortality rate (Mortality rate refers to the number of deaths of infants below the age of 6 months.),

The increase in life expectancy (An estimate of the average number of additional years that a person of a given age can expect to live).

Earlier the life expectancy of people was around 55-60 years. Now the average age of a person has increased to 70-75 years.) but due to better and improved medical facilities, we can now increase the life expectancy of people.

Earlier, there was a balance between the birth and death rate due to limited medical facilities, people dying in wars, and other calamities. According to the 2011 census, the birth rate has actually come down but then the death rate has also declined due to the medical advancements.

Illiteracy is another cause of an increase in population. Low literacy rate leads to traditional, superstitious, and ignorant people. For example, Kerala has a very high literacy rate and it constitutes only 2.76% of India’s population as compared to Uttar Pradesh having maximum illiteracy rate and forms 16.49% of the population. Educated people are well aware of birth control methods.

Family planning, welfare programs, and policies have not fetched the desired result. The increase in population is putting tremendous pressure on the limited infrastructure and negating India’s progress.

The superstitious people mainly from rural places think that having a male child would give them prosperity and so there is a considerable pressure on the parents to produce children till a male child is born. This leads to a population explosion.

Poverty is another main reason for this. Poor people believe that the more people in the family, the more will be the number of persons to earn bread. Hence it contributes to the increase in population.

Continuous illegal migration of people from neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh is leading to a rise in the population density in India.

Religion sentiment is another cause of the population explosion. Some orthodox communities believe that any mandate or statutory method of prohibition is sacrilegious. It is difficult for India to exercise a check on the religious grounds for its secularism.

Impact Due to Population Explosion

The growth of the population has a major impact on the living standards of people. That is why, despite our incredible progress in the agricultural and industrial spheres, our capita income has not risen appreciably.

Hence given below are some of the major problems which are just because of the population explosion:

Natural Resources of that particular region: Natural resources are materials from the Earth used to support life and meet people’s needs. Hence if there are many people, then there is a high requirement for Natural Resources.

Unemployment: When a country becomes overpopulated, it gives rise to unemployment as fewer jobs support many people. The rise in unemployment gives rise to crime, such as theft, as people want to feed their families and provide them with basic amenities of life.

High Cost of Living: As the difference between demand and supply continues to expand due to population explosion, it raises the prices of various essential commodities, including food, shelter, and healthcare. It means that people have to pay more to survive and feed their families.

Poverty: Another major issue of population explosion is the increase in poverty as people are unemployed due to a lack of job opportunities and an abundant workforce.

Illiteracy: Because of unemployment, they cannot provide better education to the coming generation, giving us back population explosion.

Starvation: When resources are scarce, starvation, ill health, and diseases caused by diet deficiency such as rickets become eminent.

Some Major Effects of the High Population are as Follows

The rapidly growing population in India has led to the problem of food scarcity and heavy pressure on land. Even though 60% of its population is engaged in agriculture, yet people do not get even the barely necessary amount of food.

Generating employment opportunities for such a huge population in India is very difficult. Therefore, illiteracy is growing rapidly every year.

Development of infrastructural facilities is not able to cope up with the pace of growing population. So facilities like transportation, communication, housing, education, and healthcare are becoming inadequate to provide provision to the people.

The increasing population leads to unequal distribution of income and inequalities among the people widened.

Unmanageable population size may lead to the failure of the government to provide the basic facilities to the people.

Economic development is slow in a country where the population is growing at a very fast rate. This also leads to low capital formation.

Ignorance, illiteracy, unhygienic living conditions, and lack of recreation have always been the cause of population problems in India.

Rapid growth in population is also an indication of the wastage of natural resources.

Preventive Measures

To tackle this problem, the government needs to take corrective measures. The entire development of the country depends on how effectively the population explosion is stemmed.

The government and various NGOs should raise awareness about family planning and welfare. Hoardings with slogans like “Hum do, humare do” and “Chota Parivar, Sukhi Parivar” should be put up in hospitals and other public places. These slogans mean that a small family is a happy family and two children for two parents. The awareness about the use of contraceptive pills and family planning methods should be generated.

The health care centres should help the poor people with the free distribution of contraceptives and encourage the control of the number of children.

The government should come forward to empower women and improve the status of women and girls. People in rural places should be educated and modern amenities should be provided for recreation.

So we can summarise the topic by stating that population explosion is a term used to state the rapid growth of people in a particular area. It is because of lack of education, illiteracy, lack of proper knowledge of sex education, rituals, and superstition in the country’s most populated area.

Overpopulation results in a lack of development and exploitation of resources, whereas India’s strength in the global world in various fields cannot be ignored. By raising public awareness and enlisting strict population control norms, India will be able to tackle this issue.

It doesn’t mean that will happen very quickly and without any effort. It will take time because India constitutes one of the huge countries of about 138 Crore (2020) people. Proper, effective, and steady steps will lead India to a greater good.

It helps the country control the population explosion and also helps to provide good results in several other things like the good environment, abundant natural resources, proper employment, proper literacy rate with high growth in development, etc.

All this could be possible if we take some measures and be good citizens of this country. So that is how we can overcome this issue of population explosion.

FAQs on Population Explosion Essay

1) What is Population Explosion?

Population Explosion refers to a rapid increase in people in a particular area. Occurring due to reasons like increased birth in the area, decreased mortality rate, and inflow of residents, population explosion may lead to shortage of resources, negatively affecting the development of the area.

2) How is the birth rate related to population explosion?

Birth rate is directly proportional to population explosion because of people’s lack of knowledge and literacy. Most common in poor families, where more children means more means of income, increased birth rate gradually results in a population explosion.

3) What are the measures to avoid population explosion?

Better education (specially for girl child), creating awareness of family planning, providing proper knowledge of Sex Education, etc. can be some solutions to tackle the issue.

4) What is the difference between death rate and infant mortality rate?

The ratio between deaths and individuals in a particular population during a particular period is the death rate, whereas the infant mortality rate refers to the number of infants below 6 months who died within the same period.

5) What are the major reasons for the population explosion?

The major factors responsible for population explosion are illiteracy, reduced mortality, increased birth rate, and life expectancy.

Essay on Population Problem in India

Students are often asked to write an essay on Population Problem in India in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Population Problem in India

Introduction.

India, the second most populous country globally, faces significant challenges due to its growing population. It’s a matter of concern as it affects the nation’s development.

Reasons for Population Growth

The main reasons for population growth in India include high fertility rates, decreased mortality rates, and migration. Lack of education and awareness about family planning also contributes to population growth.

Impacts of Overpopulation

Overpopulation in India leads to poverty, unemployment, and scarcity of resources. It also puts pressure on infrastructure, leading to issues like overcrowding and inadequate healthcare.

Solutions to Population Problem

To control the population, the government should focus on improving education, promoting family planning, and implementing effective policies. Public awareness is also crucial to address this issue.

250 Words Essay on Population Problem in India

India, the second most populous country in the world, is grappling with a significant population problem. The rapid population growth, with an estimated 1.3 billion people, has become a cause for concern due to its implications on various socio-economic aspects.

The population explosion in India can be attributed to several factors. The primary reason is the high fertility rate, fueled by societal norms that value larger families. Additionally, lack of education and awareness about family planning methods, especially in rural areas, has contributed to the surge in population.

Implications

The burgeoning population has myriad implications. It exerts immense pressure on limited resources, leading to scarcity and unequal distribution. It also poses challenges to the government’s efforts in providing adequate healthcare, education, and employment opportunities, thus exacerbating poverty and inequality.

Way Forward

Addressing India’s population problem requires a multi-pronged approach. Firstly, emphasis should be placed on education, particularly women’s education, as it is directly linked to lower fertility rates. Secondly, the government should ramp up efforts to increase awareness and accessibility of family planning methods. Lastly, policies should aim at equitable distribution of resources to mitigate the adverse effects of overpopulation.

In conclusion, the population problem in India is a pressing issue that needs immediate attention. By focusing on education, family planning, and equitable resource distribution, India can effectively manage this challenge and ensure sustainable development for its citizens.

500 Words Essay on Population Problem in India

India, the second most populous country in the world, is facing a significant population problem. As per the latest census, the population of India is over 1.3 billion, accounting for almost 18% of the world’s population. This massive population has both positive and negative implications, but the negatives seem to outweigh the positives due to the strain on resources and infrastructure.

The Population Explosion and its Implications

The population explosion in India is primarily due to high fertility rates and improvements in healthcare leading to lower mortality rates. This exponential growth has resulted in numerous challenges. The most pressing issue is the strain on resources. With a burgeoning population, the demand for resources such as water, food, and energy has increased manifold. This has led to overexploitation, resulting in environmental degradation.

Moreover, the infrastructure in India, whether it’s housing, transportation, or sanitation, is not equipped to handle such a massive population. This has resulted in overcrowded cities, slums, traffic congestion, and inadequate sanitation facilities, affecting the quality of life.

Population and Economic Implications

From an economic perspective, the population problem has resulted in unemployment and underemployment. Despite being one of the fastest-growing economies, India struggles with job creation. The current job market cannot absorb the millions entering the workforce every year, leading to high unemployment rates.

Furthermore, a large population means a higher dependency ratio, with more people dependent on the working-age population. This puts pressure on the working population and can lead to lower savings and investment, hindering economic growth.

The Education and Health Conundrum

Education and health are two critical areas impacted by the population problem. Despite significant strides in improving literacy rates, the education system struggles to keep up with the population growth. Overcrowded classrooms, inadequate teaching resources, and poor quality of education are common issues.

Similarly, the health sector is under immense pressure. The doctor-patient ratio is far from ideal, leading to inadequate healthcare services. Moreover, the high population density facilitates the rapid spread of diseases, posing a significant public health challenge.

Conclusion: The Way Forward

Addressing the population problem in India requires a multi-pronged approach. Family planning initiatives need to be strengthened, with a focus on educating people about the benefits of small families. Efforts should be directed towards improving healthcare and education, as they play a crucial role in population control.

Moreover, economic policies should aim at job creation to absorb the growing workforce. Lastly, a sustainable approach to resource utilization is needed to prevent overexploitation and ensure future generations’ well-being.

In conclusion, while the population problem in India is a significant challenge, it is not insurmountable. With effective policies, public awareness, and sustainable practices, India can turn this challenge into an opportunity for growth and development.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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The Problem of Overpopulation Essay

Overpopulation has become one of the main challenging trends over the past centuries. Governments accept the fact that they are no longer capable of managing this problem. According to Rieder, the significant aftermath of this event is that “the Earth will, at some point, be unable to provide for our population, even without more growth” (2). Commonly proposed ways of solving the problem and treating its current consequences are widely discussed in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to examine the causes and effects of overpopulation, potential threats to society, and the ecosystem, as well as the ways to overcome the problem.

The United Nations (UN) forecasts that the world’s population is expected to increase by 2 billion in 30 years. Despite the aging population and downtrend of fertility in European countries, the amount of people is growing because of developing states. For example, the people in Africa is expected to double by 2050 (Uniyal et al. 21). Scientists provide numerous reasons for overpopulation, which include historical, sociological, psychological, and other factors (Uniyal et al. 21). It is commonly believed that overpopulation is caused by the growth of natality, the decrease of mortality, and migration flows. Other causes are attributed to cultural and religious beliefs as well as lack of education (Farraji et al. 16). Overall, there is a complex set of multiple interrelated reasons that should be examined altogether.

Overpopulation carries many environmental and social risks. Approximately 40% of the land is used for agriculture, and this figure has to grow to keep up with the growth of the population (Uniyal et al. 22). To cover up the scarcity of food, companies, and farmers are required to increase production. Therefore, a fragile balance of the global ecosystem is directly and indirectly threatened by harmful human activities. Uniyal et al. state that “deforestation, the effect on welfare, climate change, the decline in biocapacity, urban sprawl, food security, increase in energy demand and effect on the marine ecosystem are amongst most severe impacts of overpopulation” (20). Overpopulation affects the overall well-being of the society: thus, overcrowded urban cities demonstrate high rates of unemployment and unhappiness.

There are several ways of reducing the rate of overpopulation, and the main actors responsible for implementing proper policies are the national governments. Chen suggests that governments should provide citizens with affordable healthcare and social security (57). Actions such as the promotion of smaller families, gender equality, and education are considered to be effective by the UN (Farraji et al. 16). Additionally, young people should have easy access to birth control. Developing countries must create partnerships with major non-governmental organizations to fight the threat. Including these measures on the agenda may help to reduce poverty and depletion of resources.

Sustaining a population remains a great struggle, and it is going to impact the development of society. Overpopulation is caused by a set of various anthropological and natural reasons. It imposes a massive risk for life on Earth due to the exploitation of natural resources and makes the lifestyle of future generations more challenging. If the issue is not treated, the surplus population will highly likely face the scarcity of food, accommodation, and fresh air and water. However, the situation may change with the help of a global community and national governance. Many types of research and enthusiasts have proposed a system of actions, such as the adoption of “small family” policies and welfare.

Works Cited

Chen, Ying. Trade, Food Security, and Human Rights. Ashgate, 2014.

Farraji, Hossein, et al. “Overpopulation and Sustainable Waste Management.” International Journal of Sustainable Economies Management, vol. 5, no. 3, 2016, pp. 13-36.

Rieder, Travis N. Toward a Small Family Ethic: How Overpopulation and Climate Change are Affecting the Morality of Procreation. Springer Nature, 2016.

Uniyal, Shivani, et al. “Human Overpopulation: Impact on Environment.” Megacities and Rapid Urbanization: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice , edited by Information Resources Management Association, IGI Global, 2019, pp. 20-30.

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Essay on Population Problem in India, Causes, Control

Essay on Population Problem in India for Students and Children

In this article, your will read an essay on population problem in India for students and children in 1000 words. This include causes, control and how it affects economic development.

Table of Contents

Essay on Population Problem in India

The second-largest populated country in the world with the total population estimated at present is more than 135 crores in India.

Whereas China, with about 20 percent of the world’s population, has about 7 percent of the land areas, India has got only 2.4 percent of the total land areas to feed about 16 percent of the total population of the world.

Demographers of the planet have suggested different measures to stop the expansion of the population. Among these measures, economic development is considered an efficient method of social control.

“ Development is that the best contraceptive ” was the slogan raised by the planet Population Conference held in 1974 in Bucharest.

Many European countries have contained the expansion of their population through economic development. In India, however, things are different. The European model of economic growth to regulate the population can’t employ in India.

It can’t be a practical and efficient way of social control. While within the western countries, the population increased at a slow pace without disturbing the equilibrium between the natural resources and population.

In India, it’s registered a high rate of growth and it has retarded the method of the economic process.

Similarly, the western countries took an undue while to bring the death rate to a coffee level. In India, there has been a sharp decline within the death rate.

High birth rate and rapid fall within the death rate have led to a sudden population explosion and, thus, retarded economic development.

According to an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Study, ‘Developing countries are like long-distance runners’.

In their race against the clock to eliminate poverty , the rapid increase is a further burden, which, no matter their inherent strengths, slows them down.”

In India, the primary and foremost problem is the way to achieve economic development before formulating a technique for social control.

Population in India and Economic Development

Economists, demographers, and scientists hold different viewpoints as regards the connection between population and economic process.

While a number of the thinkers hold the view that population is an engine of economic development and it promotes economic growth, others opine that population retards it.

The protagonists of the expansion economics believe that the population is a crucial determinant of the industrial process.

They treat the population as ‘human capital’ which helps within the proper exploitation of natural resources, and thus raises the assembly potential of a rustic.

A large population, if it gets suitable job opportunities, can increase the extent of domestic output.

The population also creates demand for goods and services, which successively determines the dimensions of the market level of investment, production, and employment.

Prof. Nurkse believes that albeit with country suffers from the matter of disguised unemployment, it shouldn’t be an explanation for anxiety because the hidden labor force has concealed saving potential.

By shifting the hidden labor force to some construction activity, the concealed potential saving might be converted into real saving. Thus, the population stimulates the extent of capital formation, which may be a pre-condition to the economic process.

However, in the case of India, the situation is quite different.

Instead of promoting economic development, the population has retarded it as would be clear from the subsequent discussion:

The rising population has mostly offset the increase in the production of both industrial goods and agricultural goods; as a result, the per capita income is rising at a slow pace.

While the value during the last 45 years has increased at a mean annual rate of 4.2 percent, the per capita income has risen at the speed of two percent once a year.

I am a rising population result in a rise in consumption expenditure. An outsized part of the general public expenditure has got allocated for providing basic amenities of life and, therefore, minimal resources remain available for development projects.

As a consequence of the growing population, the pressure of population ashore is increasing. There has been a pointy decline within the landman ratio.

The per capita availability of the cultivable land, which was 0.89 hectares in 1950, came right down to 0.34 hectares in 1994-95. The dimensions of agricultural holdings have also decreased, and it’s adversely affected farm productivity.

The per capita availability of food decreases with the increase in the population. As against the minimum intake of food grains of 850-900 grams per individual per day, the supply of per capita food grains in India in 1997 was about 495 grams per day. In India, nearly 1 million children fall victim to malnutrition.

The rising population in India is the result of overcrowding, growth of slums, frequent traffic jams, and sanitary problems. A high rate of increase disturbs the ecological balance and thus adversely affects the environment .

Consistent with an estimate, by the top of this century, the country will need about 400 lakh new houses and repairs to about 190 lakh houses. The density of the population is predicted to rise from 274 per sq. Km in 1991 to 418 per sq. Km by 2,000 A.D.

The rising population worsens the unemployment problem. The mixture labor force in India predicted to rise from 213 million in 1921 to 1,000 million in 2000 A.D. it might be tough for the country to make employment opportunities for such an outsized force.

The amount of unemployed persons has gone up from 40 lakhs in 1951 to about 198 lakhs in January 1997. Increase, through increased consumption of energy resources , aggravates the energy crisis. If each family has got to use 40-watt electric bulbs, we shall need to put up new 259 MW power stations every three months.

As a consequence of the growing population, public services concerning health, education , transport, etc., are always under pressure; imbalanced distribution of population often causes political and social conflicts aside from riots.

A rapid increase in population during the post-Independence period accounted for by the above growth rates of the population.

Causes of Rapid Population Growth in India

Climatic factors.

India features a hot climate in which the girls get matured at an early age. Their re-productivity period starts typically from 14 years, leading to a more significant re-productivity span.

Social Factors

Marriage may be a universal phenomenon in India. Child marriage in rural India may be a rule instead of an exception.

Marriage at an early age lengthens the reproductive period of girls; the amount of girls within the reproductive age is considerable.

The amount of youngsters born per couple tends to extend when the couple is desirous of male progeny, which is taken into account a requirement consistent with customs.

The joint family system also provides a spurt to increase. In such an order, children aren’t the responsibility of the couple alone but the entire family.

Religious Factor

India is a country of many faiths and cultures. Some religions do not prefer and preach family planning. For example, according to Christianity, termination of pregnancy is a sin.

Even Mahatma Gandhi , who influenced the political scene of India for about four decades, did not agree to the idea of family planning. He considered it as an immoral act.

Measures adopted for population control in India

Urbanization.

Urbanization is typically related to low fertility. Urbanization changes the worth of life and, therefore, the outlook of the people. People living in crowded towns can quickly realize the norms and necessity of a small size family.

Expanding Basic Education

The enlightenment of girls is essential to lower the birthrate. Primary education makes it possible for both men and ladies and the acquisition of data of birth control.

It increases their exposure to mass media and printed material and enables them to find out about modern contraceptives and their use.

Incentives and Disincentives

Incentives within the sort of cash payments, promotions, housing, and other facilities might be offered to the acceptors of birth control programs; similarly, penalties often imposed on the oldsters having many children.

To sum up, social control is essential for accelerating the pace of economic development. The Western thinking that ‘development is that the best contraceptive’ is irrelevant in Indian conditions.

It’s only through propagation, adoption, and persuasion that we will check the expansion of India’s population.

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Essay on “Population Problem” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

The population problem.

POPOULATION EXPLOSION

THE PROBLEM OF THE INCREASING NUMBERS IN INDIA

THE PLANNER PROPOSES , POPULATION DISPOSES

7 Best Essay on “The Population Problem in India”

Essay No. 01

“No country can be overpopulated if there is work for everyone”. —–Jawahar Lal Nehru

Over-Population is one of the numerous problems facing India. It is a burning question of the day. It has been engaging the attention of the public and the press for a pretty long time. Much has been said and written about this problem of ever-increasing numbers. During the last century, Malthus, a well-known economist; had stated in his famous essay on the population that population increased at a much faster rate than food supply. Malthus seems to be quite true if we look at the conditions prevailing in our country today.

India occupies only 2.4 percent of the total land area of the world but the population of the country is 16 percent of the total global population. According to the 1991 census, the population of India had crossed the 882 million mark. What is more, it is still increasing at an alarming rate. It is rising at the rate of about one million heads every month. According to the 2001 Census, the population of India crossed the 1000 million mark. This crossing of the billion mark has shaken the government and the people of India to the bones. Since 1947, the population of India has increased by 360 million. This means we have added an entire population of the erstwhile USSR. Every year, the increase in India’s Population equals the population of Australia. The situation is just staggering. The production of food cannot keep pace with the alarming increase in numbers.

The causes of this problem are not very far to seek. Ours is a hot country. So we have a high birth rate. The boys and girls of our country grow and mature sexually at an early age. Early marriages are common even today, especially in rural areas. Moreover, the birth of a baby is supposed to be the work of God. Illiteracy and ignorance are still rampant Bog families still carry prestige with them. So the birth rate is quite high. On the other hand, medical facilities have increased a lot since independence. It has led to a decrease in the death rate. The population is, therefore, increasing at a terrific speed. Last but not the least, there is a lack of means of recreation for the masses. This and many other social factors are at work. They account for this serious problem facing the country.

The problem of ever-increasing numbers must be solved on a top priority basis. Unless it is solved our Five Year Plans cannot raise our standard of living. No plan for employment can succeed in its absence. The food problem will remain as it is. So, for the future prosperity of the nation, every effort must be made to solve it.

A planned population control program should be launched to check this phenomenal growth in population in our country. The first step, of course, is the education of the people. Their whole mental outlook must be changed. They have to realize that it is a sin to have a large family. Besides this, an improvement in the economic condition of the people will also bring down the birth rate. Family planning schemes should be made popular. Attractive incentives should be given to those couples who come forward to plan their families. Those who refuse to be all in line should be suitably penalized and discouraged. Medicines, operations, and other devices, that help in checking the birth rate should be made available to all. They should not be limited to cities only. They must reach rural India.

With the crossing of the billion mark, the planners in the Government of India have once again started thinking of steps that can be taken to control the population in the country. A suggestion has been made that the country should declare a two-year baby holiday. It has also been suggested that the one-child family norm should be adopted. Punitive measures are also being thought of to curb this population explosion. No hard decisions have so far been taken.

To sum up, population control is a crying need of the hour. It is a problem that concerns each citizen of our country. If we do not plan our families, we might perish one day.

Essay No. 02

Population Problem

India is a big country, but so are her problems. The population is one of these problems. The present population explosion and the baby boom is very serious problem. It is becoming more and more alarming day by day. The rapid growth of the population in India has nullified most of our achievements in the fields of economics, industrialization, employment generation, planning, and development. The phenomenal increase in our population has left far behind ‘our developmental and technological gains. With the result that there is no check on increase in poverty, misery, diseases, dissatisfaction, frustration, unemployment, and illiteracy. Even the bare necessities of life are being denied to the people, and millions and millions of citizens are living under the line of poverty. In spite of our planned development and scientific progress, the specter of starvation has been staring at the masses.

The reasons behind this rapid growth of our population are too obvious to be ignored. Early marriage, great fertility in Indian women, decline in the rate of mortality because of modern facilities in medicine, surgery and health care, illiteracy and lack of proper education in family planning, etc., are some of the major causes of the problems. Though child marriage has been banned, it prevails as a social custom in many states and every year thousands of child marriages are performed before the very eyes of the custodians of the law. The tropical climate of the country helps the high degree of fertility among Indian women. Here a girl of 15-16 years old is mature enough to deliver a child if married. People in India still consider children as divine gifts. Most of the people in villages and slums in the cities are totally unaware of the evil consequences of a large and unplanned family. The people in rural areas, being ignorant and superstitious, believe in the divine dispensation in the molding of a family and refuse to adopt the measures of family planning.

The Malthusian specter has been haunting India in spite of our family planning program and population policy. According to Malthus population increases in geometrical progression while resources of sustenance increase only in arithmetical progression. Malthus would have been happy to see his theory come true in India, had he been alive. By the turn of this century, we shall have a population of 1000 million. Our growth of population at the rate of 2% is really alarming. Every minute we have about 45 additional mouths to feed. The longevity and falling death rate further aggravate our population problem. According to the estimates of the demographers, with the present rate of growth in population, India would soon become the most populous country in the world and China would be relegated to second place. The baby boom in India reduces the quality of life and increases the problems of unemployment, health, family welfare, housing, and many others. The chronic problem becomes even worse because of illiteracy and ignorance. People in rural India frequently indulge in sex as a diversion without using the means of contraceptives and family planning.

To fight this danger of ever-increasing population some strict and urgent measures should be taken. More funds should be allocated for family planning, mother and child care, and birth control programs under the Five Year Plan. More and more sterilization facilities coupled with increased monetary incentives should be provided in the villages and towns. Child marriages should be dealt with a heavy hand and marriage registration should be made compulsory. Without registration, no marriage should be considered legal. As far marriages and divorces are concerned, there should be a uniform civil code, and no discrimination should be exercised on the basis of religion, etc.

A mass propaganda and education program should be launched through radio, T.V., and the press to educate the masses as regards the many advantages to be had from family planning, birth control, and late marriages. If the present rate of birth does not come down in near future, it would be disastrous for the country, and then ultimately we would be constrained to resort to such unpleasant means as compulsory sterilization. It is better that we use more and more sterilization, loops, condoms, oral contraceptives, etc., to curb the menace of rapid growth in population before we are forced to such drastic steps such as compulsory sterilization, etc.

Essay No. 03

Population Problem of India

The population has always had the tendency of growing but, as long as it is within the limits of acceptability and management, it is very welcome. However, in India, as we all know, the growth of population is all proportion to its other achievements.

India is the most thickly populated country in the world. second only to China. This population growth if left unchecked will automatically allow absolutely no impact on the development of the country, in any other sphere. No matter how many and how vast our development programs maybe, this disproportionate growth of population will nullify it all. For instance, if a home is big enough for four people to live in very comfortably and the population rises to six. When the home is big enough for six, the population becomes eight and hence goes on and on. This would obviously mean that never can there be entire comfort, as, when comforts are increased, population to take advantage also increases thus the position remains the same. The net result of this sort of situation would be that, there would never be any sufficiency, no matter how much we may achieve. Similarly, when the family income is enough to cater to four, the family size rises to six, when it rises to be enough for six, the problem size rises to be eight. This is a question of just simple Arithmetic that is easily understood by all, yet, remains unanswered and unsolved.

In the last fifty years of India’s Independence, this has been the exact position of India. India has undoubtedly made tremendous progress on all fronts but this problem population has just nullified all the achievements if see them in the perspective of the whole country. This makes us feel as though we are just the same as we were fifty years back, and, I dare say this is all just because of the continuously rising graph of population.

If this situation continues, I think, India can never hope to be among the progressive countries of the world, as, all progress is bound to be naught by the disproportionate growth of the population. The Government, the NGOs, and above all the individuals, should work together to tackle this problem for, as long as this is not satisfactorily solved there is no end to the dark tunnel of poverty and hunger.

To tackle this Herculean problem we must attack it very methodically. Let us analyze why and where the population growth is maximum, and then attack the virus. The belief of society that, a son is essential in a family makes several families grow to undesirable and uncouth sizes. Parents don’t stop producing till they get a son Besides this, in rural India where growth is phenomenal the parents do not feel the need for a small family, and they do not seem to feel the burden of the large family. They seem to hold the view that, each child who comes with two hands, is able to fend FOR himself. Hence, no one is a burden on the parents. These parents do not realize that their children pose problems for the country, if not for the individual family. A problem galore comes ahead with this rising population the problem of child labour. The child trafficking problem and several other problems take birth due to the little ones taking to job-seeking the parents feel that they are earning for themselves so, no problem is there for the society and the country. However, this is not true for, it is these rural children seeking employment that leads to the exploitation of children in the urban areas. And the sad part of it all is that the rural adults do not understand this.

The layman’s solution to this magnum problem is to enlighten the village folk to the necessity and advantages of having a small family, and few children who can be brought up so well that they become good citizens of the country and contribute to the development of India However, if after much explanation and even cajoling, the rural people do not understand the magnitude of the problem, they should, I dare say be forced into family planning with several incentives and punishments for their activities in the family planning process.

Essay No. 04

Population explosion is one of our major problems. India is in the grip of a population explosion, which has affected all our developmental activities very badly. The persistently high birth rate and a considerable decline in mortality rate have made India an overpopulated country. The problem is becoming more and more alarming with the passage of time. In terms of population, India is the second-largest country after China. The infant mortality rate has come down to 80 from 126 per thousand. Life expectancy, on the other hand, has considerably increased. This phenomenon has resulted in the rapid growth of the population of younger people. Similarly, there are an increasing number of men and women over sixty years of age. Consequently, the clash of ideas and interests between the young and the old has become common.

There are about 18 million births every year in India. With this high fertility and decline in mortality, our population has already crossed the 1 billion mark. The enormity of the problem has been realized but commensurate steps towards population control have not been taken so far. The measures taken to date, to address this colossal problem, are really not adequate. Meaningful population control programs should take into account such socio-economic factors as age of marriage, female literacy, rate of mortality, the status of women, and poverty because they have a strong bearing on our population explosion.

The growth of our population at the rate of 2% is really alarming. Every minute we have 45-50 additional mouths to feed. If this baby boom continues, our country will soon be the most populated in the world and China will be relegated to the second position. This baby boom reduces the quality and standard of living and increases the problems of unemployment, housing, health, family welfare, education, etc. The problem becomes all the worse because of illiteracy, ignorance, superstitions, religious and communal prejudices. Most of the people in villages and slums in the cities are totally ignorant of the evil consequences of a large and unplanned family. Owing to a lack of proper awareness and age-old traditions, coupled with superstitions, people in villages believe in the divine dispensation in the moulding of their families and refuse to plan them. Small farmers and agricultural labourers, etc. have large and unplanned families because of the economic value of the children. The more the children, the more hands there are to earn for the family.

To achieve the desired aims and objectives in regard to population control and family planning, the status of women should be improved. They should be well educated and informed and economically independent so that they can have control over their fertility. It is a fact that female literacy has a strong correlation with higher age of marriage and lower birth rate. The birth rate can be brought down by 12 per thousand if the mean age of marriage is raised to 20 years among women. It has been observed that seven years of schooling leads to a three-and-a-half-year delay in marriage and also lower infant mortality. Late marriages should be encouraged and child marriages should be dealt with strictly. Marriage registration should be made compulsory and no marriage should be considered legal without it. ‘Two children’ norm should be strictly implemented and there should not be any violation of it.

Unless the population is controlled, neither can poverty be eliminated nor the living standard is improved. Under the Five Year Plans, more funds should be allocated for family planning, mother and child care, and birth control programs. More and more sterilization facilities, coupled with increased monetary incentives, should be provided in villages and towns. Couples accepting family planning with one or two daughters should be provided proper insurance cover, ensuring their welfare in old age. Security and protection in old age should be ensured to such couples by the government and society. A strong system of incentives and disincentives should be adopted to check this explosion in our population.

Poverty and ignorance are at once both the cause and effect of our rapid expansion of population. Along with rapid and proper economic development, there should be proper awareness among the people about the desirability of family planning. A mass propaganda and education program should be launched through the press, T.V., radio, etc. to enlighten the masses regarding the many advantages of family planning, birth control, and late marriages. If the present baby boom does not stop in the near future, it will be disastrous for the country. It is better that people use more and more means of sterilization, loops, condoms, oral contraceptives, etc. to check the menace of rapid growth in the population before it is too late. We can learn much in this respect from countries such as China and Sri Lanka, etc. More emphasis should be laid on employment, women’s education, poverty alleviation, and birth-control schemes. It is through these means alone that the concept of a small family can be popularised.

Poverty arising out of unemployment and under-employment is the major cause of large families. Family planning and economic development have a strong positive association. One cannot be achieved without the other. They are interlinked and interdependent. The experience of the developed countries in this connection is before us. In poor families, an additional child is considered economically desirable, because he or she can help in increasing the income of a family to some extent.

The moot question is why India has so far failed in its population control program and family welfare schemes. The policy-makers, leaders, demographers, and health and family experts should come together and seriously ponder over the matter. We should review our population control program so as to give it a new direction and dimension with the active involvement of the various governmental, private, and corporate agencies. Even small countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have managed to reduce the total fertility rate faster than India. Every year there is an increase of 18 million in our population, which is equivalent to the total population of Australia. All the other states in India should try to emulate Kerala, where the total fertility rate is just 1.8. Our total fertility rate at present is 2.9, which needs to be reduced by one percentage point. Family planning and welfare programs need to be turned into a people’s movement. It is an established fact that this explosion in our population is the root cause of poverty, social tensions, urban squalor, crime, environmental degradation, and ever-increasing unemployment.

Essay No. 05

India’s Population Problem

India is a big country. She has got a large population and according to the census figures of 1991, India’s population is 8+3,930,861. The same as per the census of 1981 was 683, 810. 051. According to the census figures of April 1, 1971, the country’s population was 547,949,809 persons whereas the country’s population in 1961 consisted of about +39 million. During the 1951 census, it was 360 million approximately. During the last decade, the population has increased considerably. Thus the birth rate has not fallen much, whereas the death rate has fallen considerably. The birth rate of 1961-70 was officially recorded as 41.1 per thousand and the death rate for the same period was 18.9 per thousand. It has been estimated that the birth rate in April 1971 was only 35.4 per thousand. But the targeted birth rate is 32 per thousand.

Now the birth rate is 30.05 and the death rate is 10.02 per thousand. The sex ratio at present is 1000: 929.

These figures show that India is likely to face a very big population problem. With the growth of every child, the country’s resources are strained to a great extent. When he grows young, he needs employment and all other facilities. Thus the Government is concentrating mainly on Family Welfare Programme.

During the emergency, the government had been trying its best to introduce Family Planning Programme and more than one crore persons had been brought under this scheme according to rough estimates. During that period, however, great progress was made with regard to family planning operations. But it caused resentment among the masses due to the wrong behaviour and attitude of the Government officials.

Now the very concept of the Family Planning Programme has been changed and it has been renamed as the ‘ FAMILY WELFARE PROGRAMME’ . The Government has paid cash-doles to those people, who suffered on account of unsuccessful operations. The use of force in the implementation of Family Planning was condemned. The policy of preparing the people mentally to realize the importance of family planning has been deemed as more effective.

People may take the certain herb or may undergo operations of their own free will. But the Government propaganda goes on through Press and Platforms for building short families. The welfare of the people is the sole aim of the government and all programs are to be implemented with their sweet will.

The Government is canvassing other measures also such as ‘YOGIC CONTROL MEASURES’, ‘HERBAL CONTROL MEASURES’ and observance of strict moral code, etc. Thus the Government wishes to control the population but it is very difficult to use force for this purpose. The best methods are self-control and other measures. Thus the Government is now trying to popularize programs for curtailing the size of families and thus checking the rise of population.

The population growth has to be checked, but through natural methods and by the consent of the people. The entire objective will fail by the use of force. People must be told the merits of the smaller size of family and its necessity for their own betterment.

Essay No. 06

India is a vast country. Our country is facing many serious problems. We daily read of famines, floods, and earthquakes. The government is doing its best to solve these problems.

Of all the present problems the most dangerous is the population problem. The economists estimate that the increasing population in India is very discouraging. According to them, India’s population is multiplying very rapidly. If this population continues increasing at this high rate, it will be about 1010 million at the end of 2010. The situation would be more explosive than that created by atom bombs. It is therefore obvious that some sort of birth control on the growing population is very essential.

Our planners have thought over his problem seriously. Allocation of funds for welfare in Five Year Plans has been increasing. In the first Five Year Plan Rs. 5 lakhs were kept for population control. But in the Fourth five-year Plan. Rs. 100 crores were kept for family welfare. The centers are associated with some hospitals of the locality. The red triangle is the symbol of FamilyWelfare Centre. In the rural areas, there is a Family Planning Centre for every eighty thousand persons. Mobile service units are provided. For every fifty thousand population, there is one Mobile Unit. Various contraceptives and other facilities are provided in the hospitals.

Family Planning is being encouraged. Posters connected with family planning are seen on the walls, buses, etc. Propaganda is made through newspapers, radio, films, and Television.

However, the progress in this field is very slow, while the population is increasing very rapidly. It is not only the duty of the government to make plans and schemes but the people should also feel the seriousness of the problem. They should co-operate with the Government. They should make it their duty to exercise some control over it:

Once our late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi had said, “With our limited resources we must ensure that in every home every child is a wanted child and has the rightful share of health, education, and employment.”

An increase in population causes many problems. We require more food, clothing, house, education facilities, health care, employment opportunities, etc. for increasing numbers. All this requires a huge expenditure and elaborate planning. All this is an uphill task. In order to control the population, adequate serious steps should be taken to get rid of illiteracy, poverty, and superstitions.

Free family planning devices should be made available to all, particularly in rural and slum areas. Incentives should be given to those who have only one or two children. Panchayats, NGOs, educational institutions, and media should play a role in bringing about an awakening in this regard among all sections of society.

Essay No. 07

Population Problem in India

Population in India is increasing rapidly. It is called “Population Explosion. Illiteracy, control over death rates, religious beliefs, poverty, and ignorance are the causes of the population problem. At present, India’s population is more than one hundred crores. It is the root cause of poverty. No nation can progress without controlling overpopulation. The citizens should be educated about the advantages of a small family. Medical science has greatly checked the death rate. Unfailing means should also be invented to check birth-rate. If we fail to check the birth rate, we shall fail in every field. We shall fail to provide new mouths food, clothing, shelter, education, and other basic needs of life. The government should give incentives and popularise means to check the increase in population. Otherwise, it will be too late.

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commentscomments

According to me these type of essay are not only for exams, but also for making the people aware and to save the earth too.

It was better to write it in paragraph

Yes u r right

it is not only an essays ..but it is a thought which is..very important to …develop in all human being ..whole concept is ..clear …nice one…thanks

Really great …. It’s too helpful for me Thanks

Thanks to write on this topic. concept is very clear thanks a lot !!

Thanks for giving this message to us that be safe from this population problem. I am from nepal

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Overpopulation Essay

500 words essay on overpopulation.

Overpopulation refers to an undesirable condition in which the number of existing human being exceeds the actual carrying capacity of the earth. It has many causes which range from a decline in the death rate to early marriages and more. The overpopulation essay will throw light on this issue.

Ill-Effects of Overpopulation

The ill-effects of overpopulation are quite severe. The first one is that natural resources deplete at a faster level. Our planet can produce only a limited amount of water and food . Thus, overpopulation causes environmental damage including deforestation, pollution, etc.

Similarly, there is the degradation of the environment which happens because of the overuse of resources like coal, oil, natural gases and more. As a result, the quality of air also gets affected in this manner.

In developing countries, overpopulation puts a strain on resources. Thus, it gives rise to conflicts and tension. It also causes more diseases that become harder to control. Next up, we have the issue of unemployment.

Moreover, it rises due to overpopulation. There is more number of people than job opportunities. As a result, unemployment gives rise to crimes like theft and more. We also have pandemics and epidemics which happen due to overpopulation.

It is because overcrowded and unhygienic living gives rise to infectious diseases . Another ill-effect is malnutrition and starvation. When there are scarce resources, these diseases will likely to be on the rise.

Most importantly, we have a shortage of water which makes it tougher for people to get access to clean water. Similarly, lower life expectancy also happens because of the boom in population, especially in less-developed nations.

We also witness faster climate change as nations continue to develop their industrial capacities. Thus, they emit industrial waste which gives rise to global temperatures . It will keep getting worse if things are not checked immediately.

Solutions of Overpopulation

There are many solutions which we may take up to prevent overpopulation. The best measure is family planning to keep the overpopulation check. In order to do that, one can ensure proper spacing between the births of the children.

Further, limiting the number of children as per income and resources must also be important. Similarly, it is essential to increase resources. The government must make the horrors of overpopulation reach the public through the use of media.

Moreover, better education can help implement social change which can curb overpopulation. Next up, knowledge of sex education must be made mandatory in schools so students learn young about everything they need to know.

Most importantly, it is essential to empower women so they can break out of poverty. This way, they can learn about reproductive health and make better decisions. Another solution can be government incentives.

Many governments of countries already have various policies which relate to tax exemptions for curbing overpopulation. For instance, some waive a certain part of income tax for married couples with one or two children.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of Overpopulation Essay

All in all, overpopulation is no less than a curse that poses a permanent threat to the development of any country. It is essential to stop the flood of population. In order to do that, one must indulge in proper family planning and creating balance in society for a better world.

FAQ of Overpopulation Essay

Question 1: What is the main cause of overpopulation?

Answer 1: It is believed that the main cause of overpopulation is poverty. When there is a lack of education resource which coupled with high death rates, it results in impoverished areas witnessing large booms in population.

Question 2: How is overpopulation affecting the world?

Answer 2: Overpopulation is affecting the world as it is outpacing the ability of the planet earth to support it. It also has environmental and economic outcomes which range from the impacts of over-farming on global warming.

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Pope Francis: Selfishness—not too many babies—is the root cause of the world’s problems

ROME (CNS) -- Blind, unbridled consumerism and selfishness -- not the number of people on the planet and having children -- are the root causes of the world’s problems, Pope Francis said.

The reasons for pollution and world hunger, for example, are not based on the number of children being born, but on “the choices of those who think only of themselves, the delusion of unbridled, blind and rampant materialism, of a consumerism that, like an evil virus, erodes at the root the existence of people and society,” he said.

“Human life is not a problem, it is a gift,” he said. “The problem is not how many of us there are in the world, but what kind of world we are building.”

Pope Francis made his remarks at a meeting in Rome May 10 on Italy’s longtime decline in births and population growth.

The annual conference focuses on the general state of Italy’s birthrate and demographics and seeks to bring all sectors of society together to pursue concrete ways to reverse the country’s steeply declining birthrate. Sponsored by the Foundation for Natality and with the support of the Italian Forum of Family Associations and the city of Rome, the conference was held May 9-10 at a Rome auditorium not far from St. Peter’s Square.

Italy has had one of the lowest birthrates in the European Union for years. According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics, Italy continued to register less than 7 births per 1,000 people last year and saw 14,000 fewer births than in 2022. Italy’s fertility rate dropped to 1.2 in 2023 from 1.24 in 2022.

However, its population registered a decline of only 0.3% from last year due to increased migration and to fewer people leaving the country, the institute said.

Gianluigi De Palo, president of the Foundation for Natality, said in his talk before introducing the pope, that the group’s mission is to encourage Italy’s demographic winter to turn into springtime.

“Not because we are worried about who will pay for our pensions or who will support the national health care system, but because we want our children to be free” to choose what they want to do with their future, he said.

“It is not about convincing young people to have more children; it is not about convincing couples, families, women to have children,” he said.

The problem is that having children is one of the primary causes of poverty in Italy, “and this is unacceptable,” he said. People may feel free to not have children if they do not want them, but that freedom is denied to those who want to have children “but are not in a position to have them.”

Nothing concrete has been done, he continued, to actually enact or strengthen measures and policies that people agree with, such as more public child care centers and better parental leave.

In his talk, Pope Francis said the root cause of problems in the world “is not babies being born: it is selfishness, consumerism and individualism, which make people satiated, lonely and unhappy.”

“Selfishness makes one deaf to the voice of God, who loves first and teaches how to love, and to the voice of the brothers and sisters around us; it anesthetizes the heart,” making people live for things and possessions, losing the capacity to know “how to do good.”

Homes become “very sad places,” he said, emptied of children and “filled with objects,” dogs or cats.

The pope said what is needed are long-term approaches, effective policies and bold, concrete decisions so that what seeds are sown today, children “can reap tomorrow.”

“Serious and effective family-friendly choices” need to be made, he said. For example, women should never be put in a position where they have to choose between work and childcare, and young people should not carry the paralyzing burden of job insecurity and the inability to buy a home.

There should also be more intergenerational solidarity and generosity, the pope said.

Older generations should reassess their habits and lifestyles, “giving up what is superfluous in order to give the youngest hope for tomorrow” and, he said, younger generations should recognize and show gratitude for the sacrifices and hard work of those who helped them grow, he added.

In every discussion about birthrates and demographics, he said, do not forget to emphasize the importance of grandparents playing an active role in families.

It is “cultural suicide” to “discard” grandparents or let them live solitary lives, he said.

“The future is made by young and old together. Courage and memory together,” he said.

“These are the values to uphold, this is the culture to spread, if we are to have a tomorrow,” he said.

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Teens come up with trigonometry proof for Pythagorean Theorem, a problem that stumped math world for centuries

By Bill Whitaker

May 5, 2024 / 7:00 PM EDT / CBS News

As the school year ends, many students will be only too happy to see math classes in their rearview mirrors. It may seem to some of us non-mathematicians that geometry and trigonometry were created by the Greeks as a form of torture, so imagine our amazement when we heard two high school seniors had proved a mathematical puzzle that was thought to be impossible for 2,000 years.

We met Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson at their all-girls Catholic high school in New Orleans. We expected to find two mathematical prodigies.

Instead, we found at St. Mary's Academy , all students are told their possibilities are boundless.

Come Mardi Gras season, New Orleans is alive with colorful parades, replete with floats, and beads, and high school marching bands.

In a city where uniqueness is celebrated, St. Mary's stands out – with young African American women playing trombones and tubas, twirling batons and dancing - doing it all, which defines St. Mary's, students told us.

Junior Christina Blazio says the school instills in them they have the ability to accomplish anything.

Christina Blazio: That is kinda a standard here. So we aim very high - like, our aim is excellence for all students.

The private Catholic elementary and high school sits behind the Sisters of the Holy Family Convent in New Orleans East. The academy was started by an African American nun for young Black women just after the Civil War. The church still supports the school with the help of alumni.

In December 2022, seniors Ne'Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson were working on a school-wide math contest that came with a cash prize.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: I was motivated because there was a monetary incentive.

Calcea Johnson: 'Cause I was like, "$500 is a lot of money. So I-- I would like to at least try."

Both were staring down the thorny bonus question.

Bill Whitaker: So tell me, what was this bonus question?

Calcea Johnson: It was to create a new proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. And it kind of gave you a few guidelines on how would you start a proof.

The seniors were familiar with the Pythagorean Theorem, a fundamental principle of geometry. You may remember it from high school: a² + b² = c². In plain English, when you know the length of two sides of a right triangle, you can figure out the length of the third.

Both had studied geometry and some trigonometry, and both told us math was not easy. What no one told them was there had been more than 300 documented proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem using algebra and geometry, but for 2,000 years a proof using trigonometry was thought to be impossible, … and that was the bonus question facing them.

Bill Whitaker: When you looked at the question did you think, "Boy, this is hard"?

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Yeah.

Bill Whitaker: What motivated you to say, "Well, I'm going to try this"?

Calcea Johnson: I think I was like, "I started something. I need to finish it."

Bill Whitaker: So you just kept on going.

Calcea Johnson: Yeah.

For two months that winter, they spent almost all their free time working on the proof.

CeCe Johnson: She was like, "Mom, this is a little bit too much."

CeCe and Cal Johnson are Calcea's parents.

CeCe Johnson: So then I started looking at what she really was doing. And it was pages and pages and pages of, like, over 20 or 30 pages for this one problem.

Cal Johnson: Yeah, the garbage can was full of papers, which she would, you know, work out the problems and-- if that didn't work she would ball it up, throw it in the trash.

Bill Whitaker: Did you look at the problem?

Neliska Jackson is Ne'Kiya's mother.

Neliska Jackson: Personally I did not. 'Cause most of the time I don't understand what she's doing (laughter).

Michelle Blouin Williams: What if we did this, what if I write this? Does this help? ax² plus ….

Their math teacher, Michelle Blouin Williams, initiated the math contest.

Bill Whitaker: And did you think anyone would solve it?

Michelle Blouin Williams: Well, I wasn't necessarily looking for a solve. So, no, I didn't—

Bill Whitaker: What were you looking for?

Michelle Blouin Williams: I was just looking for some ingenuity, you know—

Calcea and Ne'Kiya delivered on that! They tried to explain their groundbreaking work to 60 Minutes. Calcea's proof is appropriately titled the Waffle Cone.

Calcea Johnson: So to start the proof, we start with just a regular right triangle where the angle in the corner is 90°. And the two angles are alpha and beta.

Bill Whitaker: Uh-huh

Calcea Johnson: So then what we do next is we draw a second congruent, which means they're equal in size. But then we start creating similar but smaller right triangles going in a pattern like this. And then it continues for infinity. And eventually it creates this larger waffle cone shape.

Calcea Johnson: Am I going a little too—

Bill Whitaker: You've been beyond me since the beginning. (laughter)

Bill Whitaker: So how did you figure out the proof?

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Okay. So you have a right triangle, 90° angle, alpha and beta.

Bill Whitaker: Then what did you do?

Bill Whitaker with Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Okay, I have a right triangle inside of the circle. And I have a perpendicular bisector at OP to divide the triangle to make that small right triangle. And that's basically what I used for the proof. That's the proof.

Bill Whitaker: That's what I call amazing.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Well, thank you.

There had been one other documented proof of the theorem using trigonometry by mathematician Jason Zimba in 2009 – one in 2,000 years. Now it seems Ne'Kiya and Calcea have joined perhaps the most exclusive club in mathematics.

Bill Whitaker: So you both independently came up with proof that only used trigonometry.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Yes.

Bill Whitaker: So are you math geniuses?

Calcea Johnson: I think that's a stretch.

Bill Whitaker: If not genius, you're really smart at math.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Not at all. (laugh)

To document Calcea and Ne'Kiya's work, math teachers at St. Mary's submitted their proofs to an American Mathematical Society conference in Atlanta in March 2023.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Well, our teacher approached us and was like, "Hey, you might be able to actually present this," I was like, "Are you joking?" But she wasn't. So we went. I got up there. We presented and it went well, and it blew up.

Bill Whitaker: It blew up.

Calcea Johnson: Yeah.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: It blew up.

Bill Whitaker: Yeah. What was the blowup like?

Calcea Johnson: Insane, unexpected, crazy, honestly.

It took millenia to prove, but just a minute for word of their accomplishment to go around the world. They got a write-up in South Korea and a shout-out from former first lady Michelle Obama, a commendation from the governor and keys to the city of New Orleans.

Bill Whitaker: Why do you think so many people found what you did to be so impressive?

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Probably because we're African American, one. And we're also women. So I think-- oh, and our age. Of course our ages probably played a big part.

Bill Whitaker: So you think people were surprised that young African American women, could do such a thing?

Calcea Johnson: Yeah, definitely.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: I'd like to actually be celebrated for what it is. Like, it's a great mathematical achievement.

Achievement, that's a word you hear often around St. Mary's academy. Calcea and Ne'Kiya follow a long line of barrier-breaking graduates.

The late queen of Creole cooking, Leah Chase , was an alum. so was the first African-American female New Orleans police chief, Michelle Woodfork …

And judge for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Dana Douglas. Math teacher Michelle Blouin Williams told us Calcea and Ne'Kiya are typical St. Mary's students.

Bill Whitaker: They're not unicorns.

Michelle Blouin Williams: Oh, no no. If they are unicorns, then every single lady that has matriculated through this school is a beautiful, Black unicorn.

Pamela Rogers: You're good?

Pamela Rogers, St. Mary's president and interim principal, told us the students hear that message from the moment they walk in the door.

St. Mary's Academy president and interim principal Pamela Rogers

Pamela Rogers: We believe all students can succeed, all students can learn. It does not matter the environment that you live in.

Bill Whitaker: So when word went out that two of your students had solved this almost impossible math problem, were they universally applauded?

Pamela Rogers: In this community, they were greatly applauded. Across the country, there were many naysayers.

Bill Whitaker: What were they saying?

Pamela Rogers: They were saying, "Oh, they could not have done it. African Americans don't have the brains to do it." Of course, we sheltered our girls from that. But we absolutely did not expect it to come in the volume that it came.

Bill Whitaker: And after such a wonderful achievement.

Pamela Rogers: People-- have a vision of who can be successful. And-- to some people, it is not always an African American female. And to us, it's always an African American female.

Gloria Ladson-Billings: What we know is when teachers lay out some expectations that say, "You can do this," kids will work as hard as they can to do it.

Gloria Ladson-Billings, professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin, has studied how best to teach African American students. She told us an encouraging teacher can change a life.

Bill Whitaker: And what's the difference, say, between having a teacher like that and a whole school dedicated to the excellence of these students?

Gloria Ladson-Billings: So a whole school is almost like being in Heaven.

Bill Whitaker: What do you mean by that?

Bill Whitaker and Gloria Ladson-Billings

Gloria Ladson-Billings: Many of our young people have their ceilings lowered, that somewhere around fourth or fifth grade, their thoughts are, "I'm not going to be anything special." What I think is probably happening at St. Mary's is young women come in as, perhaps, ninth graders and are told, "Here's what we expect to happen. And here's how we're going to help you get there."

At St. Mary's, half the students get scholarships, subsidized by fundraising to defray the $8,000 a year tuition. Here, there's no test to get in, but expectations are high and rules are strict: no cellphones, modest skirts, hair must be its natural color.

Students Rayah Siddiq, Summer Forde, Carissa Washington, Tatum Williams and Christina Blazio told us they appreciate the rules and rigor.

Rayah Siddiq: Especially the standards that they set for us. They're very high. And I don't think that's ever going to change.

Bill Whitaker: So is there a heart, a philosophy, an essence to St. Mary's?

Summer Forde: The sisterhood—

Carissa Washington: Sisterhood.

Tatum Williams: Sisterhood.

Bill Whitaker: The sisterhood?

Voices: Yes.

Bill Whitaker: And you don't mean the nuns. You mean-- (laughter)

Christina Blazio: I mean, yeah. The community—

Bill Whitaker: So when you're here, there's just no question that you're going to go on to college.

Rayah Siddiq: College is all they talk about. (laughter)

Pamela Rogers: … and Arizona State University (Cheering)

Principal Rogers announces to her 615 students the colleges where every senior has been accepted.

Bill Whitaker: So for 17 years, you've had a 100% graduation rate—

Pamela Rogers: Yes.

Bill Whitaker: --and a 100% college acceptance rate?

Pamela Rogers: That's correct.

Last year when Ne'Kiya and Calcea graduated, all their classmates went to college and got scholarships. Ne'Kiya got a full ride to the pharmacy school at Xavier University in New Orleans. Calcea, the class valedictorian, is studying environmental engineering at Louisiana State University.

Bill Whitaker: So wait a minute. Neither one of you is going to pursue a career in math?

Both: No. (laugh)

Calcea Johnson: I may take up a minor in math. But I don't want that to be my job job.

Ne'Kiya Jackson: Yeah. People might expect too much out of me if (laugh) I become a mathematician. (laugh)

But math is not completely in their rear-view mirrors. This spring they submitted their high school proofs for final peer review and publication … and are still working on further proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem. Since their first two …

Calcea Johnson: We found five. And then we found a general format that could potentially produce at least five additional proofs.

Bill Whitaker: And you're not math geniuses?

Bill Whitaker: I'm not buying it. (laughs)

Produced by Sara Kuzmarov. Associate producer, Mariah B. Campbell. Edited by Daniel J. Glucksman.

Bill Whitaker is an award-winning journalist and 60 Minutes correspondent who has covered major news stories, domestically and across the globe, for more than four decades with CBS News.

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Honeybees Invaded My House, and No One Would Help

Supported by

By Sarah Kliff

Published April 30, 2024 Updated May 2, 2024

Responding to fears of a “honeybee collapse,” 30 states have passed laws to protect the pollinators. But when they invaded my house, I learned that the honeybees didn’t need saving.

I noticed the first bee one afternoon as my dog gleefully chased it around the house. When the pest settled on a window by the stairwell, I swatted it with a cookbook and cleaned up the mess.

Five minutes later, another bee buzzed at the same window. Then a third in my kids’ room. When I heard a loud droning coming from inside a wall next to my son’s bed, the ominous situation finally hit me: The house was infested.

Listen to this article with reporter commentary

This was early April, the start of “swarm season,” when honeybee colonies search for places to build new hives. A small gap in the roof gave them access to our attic and put us on the honeybee real estate market.

But in those first frantic hours, as I darted from room to room slamming the book on them, we thought the insects might be wasps. My husband called an exterminator, who agreed to come the next morning. Then a bee-loving friend who saw a photo told us they were honeybees. When we updated the exterminator, he canceled the appointment.

Once honeybees move in, it turns out, they are particularly difficult to evict.

Several bees crawling at the bottom of a window screen with blinds.

Over the past two decades, fears of a collapsing honeybee population have inspired elegiac journalism and 30 state laws aiming to protect pollinators. Three states have given special tax breaks to beekeepers, and others have devoted millions to studying the disappearing colonies. In Washington, where I live, the DC Beekeepers Alliance notes that it is “illegal for pest control contractors to spray honeybees.”

As evening approached and a gray cloud of bees grew steadily outside our roof’s crack, we headed to a hotel, kids and energetic dog in tow. My 2-year-old danced around pretending to be a bee, her hands pointed into a stinger. My 5-year-old asked why the bees had chosen our house. Great question, bud.

My husband and I stared at our phones on the crisp hotel sheets, panic-searching online for answers. Bee species and humans are the only animals that can communicate directions to a new place without directly leading others there. And honeybees engage in an elaborate, democratic process to choose new homes. They prefer to build hives in tight spaces about the size of a large backpack, often within crawl spaces, walls and attics. Once established in a comfy spot, they can stay there indefinitely, building hives and producing honey.

We sent a few panicked messages to local WhatsApp groups, read blog posts about citronella deterrents and found a “ bee repellent ” Spotify track that sounded like a never-ending beep. We commanded the Alexa speaker back in our kids’ room to play the noise on loop all night.

The next morning, we returned to the infestation and started working the phones, to much disappointment. “When we identify a honeybee issue, we try to have a local beekeeper assist,” Ben Hottel, an entomologist and spokesman for Orkin, a pest control company, later told me.

One exterminator finally agreed to come by, only to dash our hopes upon arrival. He wouldn’t touch the bees but said that he knew a contractor who would commit illicit bee murder. We declined.

I considered buying a can of Raid, but I felt too guilty. I had a vague sense that honeybees needed saving, and some of my neighbors felt strongly about the issue. “They are so important to our ecosystem,” one neighbor advised on WhatsApp. “Their number is dwindling.” She suggested we call a beekeeper.

So we tried the swarm squad , a volunteer group of beekeepers who will collect wayward colonies. Unfortunately, the squad generally only deals with outdoor hives. A representative recommended a dozen other beekeepers with indoor expertise.

Every one of them told me the same thing: Our problem was too small.

When a colony is looking for a new home, it sends out a few hundred “scouts” to find options, each visiting 10 to 20 possible locations. When a scout likes a place, it returns to the hive and performs a “waggle” dance that tells its brethren exactly how far and in what direction they need to travel to find the potential home. The more vigorous the dance, the more a scout likes the location. Eventually, the thousands of hive dwellers vote on which place they like best.

Apparently, scouts were sizing up our home. To us, they were plenty alarming on their own. But the beekeepers reassured us that they were unlikely to sting; they didn’t have a hive or queen to defend. Call us back, they said, when you see a few thousand bees.

There was little else to do but wait and see if the colony would choose us. I repacked our suitcase for another night away. Maybe this was my family’s small contribution to saving an imperiled species, I thought.

What I wish I had known then: Honeybees do not need saving.

The same week that the bees turned up at my house, the journalist Bryan Walsh revisited a 2013 cover story for Time magazine in which he had lamented a future “world without bees.” Looking back, he said, the article didn’t hold up.

“A lot of the coverage at the height of the beepocalypse fears — my story included — used the mass death of honeybees as a symbol of how human beings had pulled nature out of whack,” Mr. Walsh wrote in a new essay in Vox . “But it’s not.”

Just last month, new federal data showed that the number of honeybee colonies has increased by 31 percent since 2007. A vast majority of those insects are used in commercial farming, carted from state to state to pollinate crops.

“Honeybees are not endangered nor at risk of extinction,” noted a 2023 report from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. “The fact that honeybees are domesticated and managed negates the possibility of being endangered.”

Honeybees are an invasive species that were brought to the United States from Europe. Saving one of their colonies can actually hurt native bees, many of which are endangered. A recent study in Montreal found that when the number of honeybee hives rose in part of the city, the number of native bees declined.

“You are not helping a wild species” when you save a honeybee swarm, said Rich Hatfield, a senior conservation biologist at Xerces. “You are introducing 10,000 to 50,000 mouths to feed to an environment that may not have enough resources.”

The bees in my house were looking for resources. Left on our own, we cobbled together a plan to make our real estate seem as unappealing as possible.

We tried to sequester as many of the honeybees as possible in the attic. It was better if they didn’t leave, the beekeepers had said, so they couldn’t go waggle to their friends. They gravitate toward light, so we flipped on a lightbulb and watched a dozen immediately swarm around it.

Two beekeepers gave us their blessing to kill the honeybees that had already made it into our house, suggesting a vacuum method. Within minutes, honeybees filled our Dyson.

Bees are most active in the warm temperatures of late afternoon. We anxiously waited for a swarm to descend. Around 4 p.m. we went outside and stared at the sky, just as we had a few days earlier for the solar eclipse .

The swarm never showed. By evening, fewer bees were roaming around the house, and the attic buzzing had grown softer. We slept at home with the Dyson near the bed.

The next morning, my son discovered dead bees in his playroom, and the dog ate some carcasses on the floor. Thirty-six hours after the honeybees had arrived, they were gone.

Stunned by the bizarre experience, I called Thomas Seeley, a professor at Cornell who has studied honeybee behavior for more than 40 years.

Ours had been a close call, Dr. Seeley said. The fact that a scout bee’s shimmy had convinced scores of others to check out our house meant that we were “clearly on the list of serious possibilities,” he said.

I peppered him with mitigation questions. Should we have tried citronella candles? No, they actually like that smell, he said, but moth balls could have helped. And what about the beeping Spotify track — did that help steer them away? Bees can’t hear, he said.

I searched for honeybee-related posts on my neighborhood email listserv, where people regularly write in looking for exterminators. “Don’t worry folks, I’m pro-bees!” read one message from a neighbor with a swarm last spring.

I noticed a new post, dated one week after the bees had left us. Bees had taken root on the poster’s deck, she said, attaching a photo of a dense yellow swarm. Perhaps, I thought, our scouts had found their new home.

“Called 311 and they weren’t super interested,” she wrote. “Any ideas? We’d like to save these bees.”

Audio produced by Parin Behrooz .

Video illustration by Yann Guichaoua/Creatas Video+/Getty Images

Sarah Kliff is an investigative health care reporter for The Times. More about Sarah Kliff

The Great Read

Here are more fascinating tales you can’t help reading all the way to the end..

When an illegal smoke shop opened across the street, an Upper West Side councilwoman, vowed to close it. What happened next was “like a Fellini movie.”

The diabetes drug Ozempic has become a phenomenon, and its inescapable jingle — a takeoff of the Pilot song “Magic” — has played a big part in its story .

A man’s five-year stay at the New Yorker Hotel cost him only $200.57. Now it might cost him his freedom .

Researchers are documenting deathbed visions , a phenomenon that seems to help the dying, as well as those they leave behind.

Around 2020, the “right” pants began to swing from skinny to wide. But is there even a consensus around trends anymore ?

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