Government, Population, and Poverty: A Win-Win Tale
Author(s)
Birdsall, Nancy
Abstract
Concern that rapid population growth may slow development has been reinforced by awareness of environmental stresses in developing nations which could be exacerbated by population growth. However, there is no consensus on whether government should intervene aggressively to lower population growth rates. Some question whether population growth is a fundamental cause either of slower economic growth or of environmental degradation. Others are concerned that government intervention in family-decision-making will have a high cost to human rights and well-being. This article reviews the main concerns about the impacts of population growth in developing countries: slower economic development, greater environmental damage, and greater poverty and income inequality. It then describes the kinds of interventions which are justified by welfare theory. These interventions turn out to be “win-win” in the sense that they can be justified as having beneficial effects independently of the population issue. The main reason for this is the well-established link between high fertility and poverty. Breaking the vicious circle of poverty and high fertility is beneficial in terms of increasing the welfare of the poor, and is also effective in lowering population growth rates.
