Backgrounder
Why do they have
so many kids?
When people from rich countries talk about
poverty in the world, they generally make two comments about
population. The first comment is that hunger happens because there
are too many people in the world. The second comment is a
question: If these people are so poor, why do they have so many
kids? Let's have a close look at both these comments.
The first comment suggests that there is
just not enough food in the world to feed all the people of the
world. This is just not true. There is enough food. However, it is
certainly true that more than 800 million people in the world are
malnourished. Why, then, are so many people hungry?
There are a few answers to this one. The
food in the world is not distributed fairly. We live in a world in
which eighty per cent of the world's resources are used up by only
twenty per cent of the world's people. This is just unfair.
Recently a visitor from Bangladesh was shocked to see just how
many shelves are devoted to pet food in Australian supermarkets
While nearly every country in the world has
the capacity to grow sufficient food for its people, not every
country in the world is able to do this. It may be because the
country is suffering from flood or famine or war or corruption. It
could also be because the subsistence crops that were
traditionally grown to feed people have been replaced by luxury
crops like coffee or pineapples. These are the crops that can be
sold to rich countries in order to pay off the country's global
debt.
The second comment is about poor families
having lots of children. Why do people have big families if they
are so poor? Poor people never ask this question. They know the
answer. They know that having more children might be hard and
cause them to be a little poorer, but they also know that having
more children will actually help them survive.
How come? Well, in many countries of the
majority world (that part of the world we used to call 'the third
world' or the 'developing world') there is no such thing as social
security or any kind of assistance from the government. Social
security is more likely to be found in rich countries like
Australia, which collect taxes and use them for the common good.
When taxation is fair, it is a good way to share the goods of the
earth.
However, many poor countries cannot set up a
taxation system like ours, one of the reasons being the impact of
that global debt which we mentioned before. Therefore, there is no
such thing as family payments or unemployment benefits or old age
pensions. Every family member, even children, work to support
their families. In this way, a large family could be better off
than a family with only one child. Children can work in the fields
and help to grow food. Children can gather vegetables or sell food
at the market. Children can collect water from the wells, collect
firewood, or go on errands. In many instance, children work in the
sweatshops, or in the sex industry. As terrible as this is, the
income from children's work helps the family to survive.
People in the majority world (the poor
world) are more likely to have large families because children
often die from hunger or disease. In some countries one child out
of five dies before it reaches the age of five. Parents then
choose to have more children. Also, in many poor countries adult
children are responsible for looking after their elderly parents.
There are no pensions for old people and there are no nursing
homes for the aged. Old people live with their families until they
die. It is a fact of life that children are needed to support
their parents when they are old.
It is true that some countries are concerned
that they have too many people. It is also true that some
countries are concerned that they do not have enough people In the
last few weeks, Australian politicians have spent a great deal of
time trying to work out a way to encourage Australians to have
more children Sometimes the problem is population density. Too
many people in the one place, not enough people in another place.
Even then the answer is complex. Some countries that are densely
populated have a higher standard of living than a less crowded
country. Just think of Hong Kong, a wealthy country and very
densely populated.
What needs to be done? When something is
done about the unequal the distribution of the earth's resources,
then food will be available to everyone, not just to the rich.
When parents are confident that all their children will live, they
will choose to have smaller families.
When governments are not forced to focus on
repayment of debts to the rich, then they can spend money on
improving life for their people. When the lives of women improve
and there is universal education for the girl child, then it will
be possible for people to choose to have fewer children.
STUDENT AND TEACHER ACTIVITIES
1. Hold a class discussion on the title of
the article before you read the contents. What do most students
think about when they hear this question? Create a mind-map of the
answers. List the answers to the question posed in the title.
2. This article mentions the impact of
global debt on poor countries. Do you know what this means? Go to http://www.jubilee2000.org.au
and find out what The Wiggles have in common with Pope John Paul
ll
3. Make a large map of the world for your
classroom. (Use an overhead projector to help you). On this map,
pinpoint the most densely populated cities of the world.
4. This website explodes many myths about
world population and lack of food: http://www.foodfirst.org/pubs/backgrdrs/1998/s98v5n3.html
Discuss these myths and the information that
'explodes' them.
5. Give Caritas Australia a call and ask for
your FREE copy of the video 'Drop the Debt'. 02 9956 5799
6. Nicaragua is a poor country that has a
global debt. Read the story about Nicaragua at http://www.jubilee2000.org.au
Select 'A Case Study? Nicaragua'
7. Make a set of 8 cards, each one having
one of these on the front. (Leave one blank). • Health care and
health education • Debt reduction • Education of females •
Distributing food fairly • Caring for the sick and the elderly
• Better farming practices • Gender equality (empowerment for
women)
Give a set of these cards to each small
group in your class. Ask students to write a few sentences on the
back of each card describing what they think the issue means.
Then ask the students to rank cards
according to how the issue might impact on population growth. Note
that there is no right answer here, as each issue has an impact.
The activity is simply to get the students to discuss the issues
so as to appreciate the complexities of global population growth.
The blank card is for a new student idea Discuss findings. Were
there any cards that seemed to be directly related to each other?
Which ones came out on top in your class?
|
