Five Examples Of Essays About Overpopulation

The most popular explanation for the threat posed by overpopulation of the planet is that in the event of a demographic crisis on Earth, resources will run out, and part of the population will face the fact of a lack of food, water or other vital means.

The degradation of forests, ponds, wildlife, soils - this is just an insignificant list of what threatens the overpopulation of the planet. According to modern estimates, today in the poorest countries of the world almost 30 million people die prematurely every year.

In the case of economically developed states, another problem arises - overconsumption. It leads to the fact that the society that is not the largest in number is too wasteful in using the resources provided to it, polluting the environment. Population density also plays a role. In large industrial cities, it is so large that it cannot but leave its mark.

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Example 1: Overpopulation: Population Growth and Birth Rate

Although most of us live a prosperous life with no worries, there are several issues that we are currently facing that will eventually be more and more clear as time goes on. One of these problems is most damaging, in my opinion, to our way of life if we do nothing about it. The issues I am speaking of is the problem of overpopulation. This is a developing crisis and it has plagued most of the world. An area is considered overpopulated if "its population can't be maintained without rapidly depleting nonrenewable resources and without destroying the environment which supports the population."(Brown,Gardner,Halweil, Beyond Malthus,19).

The problems that arise due to overpopulation could lead to a fatal epidemic that could wipe out the whole human race. So the question remains: Are we facing overpopulation here in the Middle East? And how do we tackle such problems? The answer to this question is a short simple “Yes” but the solution to this problem is much longer than a one word answer. As such, overpopulation is existent here in the Middle East and countries should identify, analyze and control it immediately.

Although I do believe we are facing the crisis of over population, one might ask what exactly can be defined as overpopulation. Through common sense, overpopulation occurs when the number of people living in a certain region, who depend on resources for survival, is significantly bigger than the amount of resources available to them. This as a result, can lead to people living poorer and unhealthier lives compared to others. Currently the world is increasing by 80 million people per year (Stefoff 16). “Population is determined by the interplay of two factors.

One is the birth rate, or the number of people being born, and the other is death rate, or the number who die. The difference between the two is called the rate of natural increase” (Stefoff 25). So let's say the birth rate is 5 children per second, and the death rate is 2 deaths per second. The population in this case will increase by 3 per second. Overpopulation occurs when this number grows rapidly. I would like to introduce the Malthusian theories, which explains why overpopulation occurs (Stetoff 34).

Basically the theory explains that since population increases geometrically (1-2-4-8-16) and while resources can only grow arithmetically (1-2-3-4-5), overpopulation will occur. As such, any country with a geometric increase in population will eventually face this problem and that country should take drastic measures to solve this problem of overpopulation. Egypt, as example, is facing the problem of overpopulation. According to recent statistics the population of Egypt right now is 81 million, while in 1951 the population was 20 million (Mountjoy 121).

That means the population more than quadrupled over a period of just sixty 60 years. Clearly such drastic increases can't go unseen and since it clearly shows a exponential growth one can expect the population of Egypt to increase by a larger factor in the upcoming year. Given that the country is 97% desert (Mountjoy 121), one can assume that expansion of agriculture is strictly limited. With this course of overpopulation, the country's agricultural expanding won't be able to catch up with such an increase of population.

The reason behind this overpopulation is not only due to lack of government enforcement on child policies, but in my opinion, also due to the Egyptian mentality that having more children will result in God rewarding them. I have come to learn this through friends who claim that the average Egyptian will have an average of 6 children. As result of this, Egypt should take steps towards resolving this overpopulation crisis as soon as possible or prepare to face such consequences. Since we can acknowledge the existence of overpopulation now, we must therefore find solutions to this problem.

At this rate, the population of earth will reach 9 billion by 2050 which is a 15% increase from the current population. If we let this problem go untouched, we will reach a point where solving overpopulation will technically be impossible. As such, tackling this problem as soon as possible, will make these solutions easier to implement. Although one such way to avoid overpopulation is do what China did: implement a one-child policy, in which the family can't have more than one child (Engelman). Although this solution will work, this path must not be taken because it deprives a human of their rights and a solution like this isn't practical.

One technique Robert Engelman suggested was “elevating woman’s status and increasing access to contraceptive services, so that essentially all births result from intended pregnancies”. Only 4 out of 5 pregnancies are intended (Engelman) and if a global movement was enforced to eliminate all unwanted pregnancies, any overpopulated country will see an immediate fall in population growth and within a few decade the population growth will subsequently decline. This increase of accessibility to contraceptive measures will definitely help Egypt battle their overpopulation problem.

This comes back to the question: Are we facing the problem of overpopulation in the Middle East, and I assure you, yes we are. This research paper was dedicatedly made to give awareness of the rising problem of overpopulation, especially in the Middle East. Overpopulation occurs when a country's population is much more than their provided resources, causing resources to be depleted much faster and the inability of the country to sustain it's population. Through research, it was concluded that Egypt is one example of a Middle Eastern country facing overpopulation at a very high rate.

Therefore, a country cannot look past this overpopulation problem and must prioritize their efforts towards finding solutions to tackle this problem. Although a bunch of solutions exist, some of them should not be approached as they contradict with human rights and human freedom. One suggested solution to this problem is to elevate woman’s status and increase their accessibility to contraceptive measures in order to avoid any unwanted pregnancies. I can conclude that the existence of overpopulation is imminent, but every problem has a solution, and countries should tackle this problem without second thought.

Example 2: Overpopulation Argumentative Essay

“Human population is growing like never before. We are now adding one billion people to the planet every 12 years. That's about 220,000 per day. ” Overpopulation is one of the worst problems the world is facing today because we’re running out of resources; it’s increasing poverty and increasing pollution. At this rate of population growth, Overpopulation is excessive population of an area to the point of overcrowding, depletion of natural resources, or environmental deterioration.

A huge problem that comes with overpopulation is depleting resources. As the population is now, “one out of every seven people alive, go to bed hungry. ” and “About one billion people lack access to sufficient water for consumption, agriculture and sanitation. ” As our population grows those statistics are going to get worst and worst and so will our quality of living. The air quality is also decreasing. “Childhood asthma rates have risen dramatically in the past 20 years”. The more people there are the pollution and waste.

Many other vital resources are decreasing such as: oil, gas, and other fuel. There are many different causes of overpopulation but one of the main ones is a decline in death rate and an incline in birth rate. If the number of children born each year equals the number of adults that die, then the population will stabilize but since our medicine has become so advanced and because of other factors people are living longer and more children are being born. It is all way out of proportion. Another cause is religious beliefs.

Some religions believe that procreation is essential and therefore families have as many children as they feel they could care for. One more cause is the lack of knowledge. Facts about reproduction, protection and birth control are lacking (especially among young adults). Right now overpopulation doesn’t seem like a big problem but if it stays on the path that it is on it will be a huge problem that our great grandchildren will be forced to face head on. Resources could become scarce which could also lead to conflict between countries and possibly war.

The amount of pollution could increase so much it could cause serious environmental destruction. Also the cost of living will go up which will cause unemployment, which will lead to more poverty! Natural habitats will disappear along with the millions of species living within them just to provide more living space for humans. The whole world could become one hugely populated, poverty-stricken, resource less, polluted city if nothing is done. There are ways people can help stabilize the world’s population.

One is to better educate people about this global problem and also about reproduction. “Imparting sex education to young kids at elementary level should be must. ” Also, tax benefits should be given to married couples that have single or two children. Raising awareness about the effects of overpopulation could help lead to ZPG (zero population growth). ZPG is the main goal and if we all come together more aware we can little by little help save the world. Overpopulation is a global problem; lets start treating it like one.

Example 3: Technology Is the Solution to Overpopulation

About ten years ago while in a science museum, I saw a counter that estimated what the world population was at that given moment. Innocuous at first glance, since a number in excess of five billion is difficult to comprehend, what became alarming after watching the counter for a minute was the continual increase in the population. Thinking about the circumstances related to the population rise logically made the problem seem apparent. The earth is finite both in terms of physical size and in resources but the population is growing towards an infinite value.

At some point the steadily rising population will move from being a problem that is geographically distant to one that is immediate and more salient than just an increasing value on a faceless counter. This problem of population growth leads to a number of solutions that could have significant implications on the quality of life. Taking no action and allowing population to grow unchecked could possibly risk the entire human species if food or clean water were to become unavailable worldwide.

Aiming for zero population growth would in theory maintain the existing quality of life since a stable population would not increase their use of resources. However not all resources are renewable, so scarcities could still occur with a fixed population size. In an extreme case permanent resource depletion under zero population growth could have the same extinction effect that unchecked growth can lead to. Despite the escalating risk of unchecked population growth, technological advances necessitated by the increase in population will at least maintain the quality of life and could possibly improve conditions.

Southwick in “Global Ecology in Human Perspective” says that human population has increased geometrically over the past two millennia. With a high number of people in their reproductive age the potential for continued growth is likely. Southwick says that scientists think the world population has increased far beyond an optimal size of one to two billion. The optimal population comes from a standard of middle class quality of life. A more critical analysis of population growth relates it to a cancer in an organism.

Despite the level of pessimism on population growth, future research needs to be conducted with a more objective viewpoint to counteract cultural and emotional origins (Southwick, 1996). With the likelihood that population will continue to increase when considering Southwick’s observation that many people able to reproduce, the population will continue to move further from its “optimal” size. This deviation implies that the quality of life must be decreasing for many. In reality this decline has not happened. As discussed in class, increased agricultural yields have allowed for a larger population to be adequately supported.

Even with the increased amount of food, Southwick says that 20 percent of the world population is malnourished (1996). More food may be available but it still is not being distributed to all of those who need it. The lack of rapid worldwide transport of all goods including food may appear to be a hindrance to well-being but this disconnection between locations may provide an important health safeguard. Diseases are another negative factor to human population growth and some highly contagious fatal diseases can risk human extinction.

A virus can only spread if it can find someone else to infect before it kills the carrier. A fatal disease that leads to death after a long period of time increases the chance that the carrier can infect other people, in turn bringing population closer to extinction. In terms of transportation, if people and goods in the world are too well connected, then a fatal disease that has the potential to lead to extinction would be able to infect many people over large area since the disease can spread quickly over trade routes.

The World Health Organization has found that the current spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS is facilitated by international travel and can quickly infect many people around the world. Originating in Southeast Asia, speedy transportation has turned SARS from a regional problem into an international issue (World Health Organization, 2003). To avoid the risk of mass deaths due to rapidly spreading diseases, international policymakers need to avoid the creation of a level of world interconnectedness that is too quick.

A slightly disconnected world may mean oods may not reach all places where in demand, but the risk of fatal diseases affecting large regions of population would be less. The ideal model of resource distribution is to have necessities be located near areas of population. Localized resources would reduce the need for goods to travel long distances over a lengthened period of time to avoid the spread of disease. Increased levels of population could live well off of added amounts of food that are nearby. This best case of locating populations near resources would be difficult to obtain in practice as resources and populations are already in fixed locations.

If people were unwilling to move near where food is available it would be difficult, except in times of war and famine, to force them to relocate. A compromise solution would accept the fact that not all people of the world will be able to have a high standard of living but the potential for improved quality exists. This potential cannot be reached immediately since resources and population remain geographically separate and faster transportation would increase the spread of fatal diseases.

Improvements in resource production such as increased crop yields makes it possible to support higher populations and improve the quality of life at least at a local level. References Southwick, C. H. Global Ecology in Human Perspective, Chapter 15. Oxford Univ. Press. (1996). World Health Organization “Frequently Asked Questions on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),” Communicable Disease Surveillance & Response (CSR), March 24. (2003). World Health Organization . Retrieved March 29, 2004.

Example 4: Is Overpopulation the Main Cause of Child Labour

Is Overpopulation the Main Cause of Child Labour? Child labour refers to the employment of children to benefit their family financial situation where they are exploited to danger and hazard. It may interfere with their education and hamper the children physically, mentally, spiritually or morally. Children exposed to child labour since young can be distorted or disabled due to carrying heavy loads or forced into unnatural positions at work for long hours. Many say that the main cause of child labour is overpopulation.

Though I agree that overpopulation is one of the important causes of child labour, but I think that it is not the main cause of it. According to a report from UNICEF in 2010, an estimate number of 158 million children are engaged in child labour and this is about 17% of the total number of children and according to International Labour Organization, it has increased to 215 million currently. Over the years, researchers have provided sufficient evidences that a large popularity of child labour occurs in developing countries.

Majority of it happens mostly in the rural of Asian and African countries and they are mostly victims of scarce resources for example food supply and water. However, child labour is also common in some developed countries, for example in the United States, more than 230,000 children work in agriculture. Reported by Edmonds and Pavcnik, 85% of working children are employed for doing works related to the agriculture. Countries where child labour has become a common practice include Bangladesh, Tanzania, Myanmar, Yemen, India and many more.

Below is a case of child labour in Bangladesh: “Mohammad Faisal Hossain is a twelve-year-old boy who works to support his family. To meet their needs, he holds down two jobs on the packed roads of the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka: selling newspapers in the early morning and working as a helping hand on a small minibus. Every morning, Mohammad collects newspapers from the retailer and weaves his way through the crowded railway stations and bus stops. On an average day, he earns 70 to 80 taka, less than US$1, at this job. His second job takes up most of his time until evening.

On the minibus, he shouts out the vehicles’ destination to potential passengers and collects fares from each rider. At this job, Mohammad worries for his safety. His wish is to go to school everyday like other children but his mother, whose once a maid servant but left after she fell sick, couldn’t afford sending him to school after fifth grade. At this crucial moment between death and survival, his father left them behind which made them even more helpless and he has no other option but to work. ” --- reported by UNICEF --- Causes of Child Labour Cases of child labour are mostly found in families who are suffering from poverty.

Poorer families are usually overpopulated and they have more children and family members to feed and to take care of. In addition to these, they have limited resources of food supply and other basic necessities essential for living as they can’t afford anything more. These factors have driven children to work so that their financial situation at home will improve. Exposed to harms, abuses and exploits, the children are deprived from their education. Overpopulation in an area will also cause the demand of resources like food supply to increase and therefore, people will compete for the available resources.

This means that the poorer families will have less access to it. However, personally, I think that overpopulation is not the main cause of child labour. Poverty is the primary cause of child labour. Poverty leads to many other factors which force children into labour. Despite the fact that the parents know that child labour is incorrect, they are forced to choose this as the other option will be worse, for instance, without sufficient money for the basic needs of life, people will become malnourished and infected with dieaseas which will eventually cause death.

Besides that, poorer families tend to be less educated. The illiteracy of parents will cause them to neglect the physical and emotional development of a child as they do not realize the importance of one’s education and the effect of it they have on their future. Due to their illiteracy, the grown-ups are finding it difficult to find jobs that can provide them enough income to support their family. Now in the 21st century, most of the well-paid jobs are to be done with the help of advanced technology and it is expected that their employees have knowledge of how to use a computer.

Thus, it is expected that the poorer ones has less chance to be employed as they don’t even know how to read or write, is it not? The increase in unemployments of the adults has caused the children to become the source of income. Children tend to work in factories because employers find it more profitable to employ children as they cost less and can extract more work. This problem has been known and throughout the years, much aid has been gathered to help increase the employment rate in rural areas.

Governments and communities have been struggling hard to try find ways to bridge the digital divide as this may be the first step in help eradicating poverty. However, in my opinion, I think that the main culprit of the practice of child labour is the government. The ignorance of corrupted governments have caused cases of child labour to increase at a fast pace. It is the only right thing that the governments make sure that their people are not suffering from the lack of basic needs.

They are the ones responsible for the countries affairs and they need to take actions to eradicate poverty in the country as fast as possible for example implementing new laws or enforcing existing laws to ban the employment of certain age. Here is a case where child labour is being ignored: An underage farm worker, Molefe Mogale, 14, was working on a farm in Rustenburg when his hand was chopped off while operating a machine. He died in hospital a day later, on 26 July, Phetoe said. "So far only a case [of murder and child labour] is opened and nothing further is done.

No arrest, no prosecution... because the case was opened by the farmer we were told that they will not charge him. " --- reported by Times Live --Effects of Child Labour Child labour deprives children of a proper childhood. They do not complete their development all roundly and this may lead to many psychological imbalances. When they grow up, the child labourers remains uneducated which means that they will be unable to find a good job. Hence, they become incapable of taking care their own family which means they need to make the later generation to work and thus, the history repeats itself.

The uneducated of the child labourers will condemn them to a life of unskilled and badly paid work and this perpetuates poverty. Also, children who never have the chance to enjoy the fun of their childhood are expected to reach mental and emotional maturity at a very early age. This is highly dangerous as these children will start displaying adult behaviors such as smoking and taking drugs. Employers are now taking the liking towards employing children as they are often paid much less than adults. These causes the unemployments of adults increase and thus, more families will force their children to work.

Child labour also has impacts on the economy of the country. Despite the fact that child labour will not have evident impact when their young, but we all know that the future of our world lies in the hands of the the earlier generation. Possible Scenarios As I have mentioned above, I strongly disagree that overpopulation is the main cause of child labour. Poverty causes overpopulation and the ignorance of the corrupted government are the ones to blame for not putting enough effort to eradicate poverty. Corrupt Governments ?

Continuation of Poverty? Overpopulated Families? Child Labour The children now are the future leaders of this place and if child labour is not stopped, it means that our world will be filled with more uneducated people. This will bring much problems as there will be many vacancies for the o? ce jobs in developed countries because not many of them are capable for the jobs. When people of the country has a lower income, it means that the total income of the country will also fall. Then, the global market will be a? ected.

The gap between the rich and the poor will be even harder to bridge and it will be an eternal struggle for the government to eradicate poverty in their country. People around the world will face problem getting access to the services and products in rural countries when the unemployment rate increases. Many businesses that required special skills will not be able to have the jobs ? lled and eventually fall into bankruptcy. Businesses like manufacturing factories and farming will be cramped with people as they are the only job that the people are capable of doing because they do not require much skills.

However, the employers will not be able to employ everybody in that area and the many more people will remain unemployed. Child labour will also cause harm to the countries’ nations. It can bring harm to our society. The children who are not brought up in the right way will not know that stealing is immoral and in order to survive, they will steal things from others. A recent case shows that a 10 year old kid was beaten to death because the innocent kid was slow at things. Imagine that you are the parent of the child, how will you react?

They will react rashly and harshly towards the loss of their child and cause unsettlement and turmoil around the society. As more families face the same thing, the problem will get bigger and the whole country will be a? ected, forcing the government to take actions. What Should Be Done To Stop Child Labour? In my opinion, the government bears the most responsibility to stop child labour. Throughout the years, many di? erent laws have been implemented to ban the abuse of children and so on. Below are some examples of laws implemented to overcome the issue: 1919: The Minimum Age (Industry) Convention (No. ) prohibited the work of children under the age of 14 in industrial establishments. 1930: The ILO Forced Labour Convention (No. 29) protected children from forced or compulsory labour, such as victims of tra? cking, children in bondage, like Iqbal, and those exploited by prostitution and pornography. 1999: ILO unanimously adopted the Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182). It called for States to prevent the most damaging child exploitation practices or the worst forms that currently exist.

Besides that Declaration of the Right of the Child is issued, stating a few important rules to help protect the children against unfair treatment and the protect their rights to have access to certain things like education. Declaration of the Rights of Child 1. All children have the right to what follows, no matter what their race, colour sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, or where they were born or who they were born to. 2. You have the special right to grow up and to develop physically and spiritually in a healthy and normal way, free and with dignity. . You have a right to a name and to be a member of a country. 4. You have a right to special care and protection and to good food, housing and medical services.

5. You have the right to special care if handicapped in any way. 6. You have the right to love and understanding, preferably from parents and family, but from the government where these cannot help. 7. You have the right to go to school for free, to play, and to have an equal chance to develop yourself and to learn to be responsible and useful. 8. You have the right always to be among the ? st to get help. 9. You have the right to be protected against cruel acts or exploitation, e. g. you shall not be obliged to do work which hinders your development both physically and mentally. 10. You should be taught peace, understanding, tolerance and friendship among all people. The enforcement of existing laws is very important because there will not be e? ective if they are not enforced.

There is one Chinese idiom that says: “Give a man a ? sh and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to ? sh and you feed him for life. I think that the government or communities should organize vocational education and training for older child labourers so that they have better skills which means a better job in the future. Besides the implementation of new laws and enforcing the existing laws, in papers prepared for the 1997 International Conference on Child Labour, it was revealed that child labour can best be combated through providing better access to education, raising social awareness and so on. According to UNICEF, for every year of quality education that a child receives, their adult earning potential increases by a worldwide average of 10%.

Governments in several countries have tried to make the enrollment of school compulsory and free of charge. This is accomplished by collecting funds and reducing the use of money on less important things. This method has been proven successful in Malawi in the year of 1994 when the government made primary education free. Research stated than from one academic year to the next, enrollment has increased by roughly 50%. However, I believe that stopping child labour is not only the responsibility of the governments. The society needs to contribute too as we are all living as one.

I think that ? rstly, we need to be aware of what is happening to them and we can do this by observing the World Day Against Child Labour every year on June 12. We can start by spreading the words around and maybe start a community in our society to unite against the problems by collecting funds to aid poorer families so that they can a? ord sending their children to school, gather old and unused items from people to donate to them so that they can spend their money on something else, organize campaigns to build rehabilitation and vocational centers to teach them special skills, and so on.

Above are some of the basic things that we can do to help but to make things more e? ective, we can write to companies that use child labour and demand that they stop, contact Foreign A? airs, Industry, Trade and Labour Ministers to demand that trade be tied to human, children and labour rights, lobby the government to make education for all children a top priority, etc. We can all make a di? erence and anything will be possible if we put much e? ort into it. Small things that we do can make a great di? erence even only by spreading words about the e? ects and great impacts of child labour.

In 2006, the International Labour Organization published a report called The End of Child Labour:Within Reach. There was one very special fact noted in this report: “Today, there are 28 million fewer child labourers than there were four years ago! This means that the work you are doing—we are all doing—to stop child labour is truly creating positive change. But there is still much more to be done. ” Global Views People have come around to know about this serious issue of child labour. Many communities and organizations have contributed much to help reduce and if possible, stop the practice of child labour as it brings bad e? cts tot he child and the people of the country.

The best way to help raising awareness is to have celebrities to spread the word. This will be the most e? ective way as people from all around the world can hear them. Several presidents of some countries, including the ex-president of England - Tony Blair, have join hands with communities such as Global March to help keep the rights of the children. In my opinion, I believe that aid need to be provided with them urgently.

I think that every children in this world have rights to receive equal opportunity of education and survival hances. It is unfair that the children have to pay the price of the consequences of poverty when they didn’t even do anything to cause it. Some people might think that it is none of their business as long as they are safe under the roof and has a great future laid beneath them, but they do not know that the continuation of child labour will eventually cause harm to the community and the country. Some of the child labourers even commented that being put in jail is better than their current life because they are fed and sheltered while in jail.

The most basic things that we can do to help is to organize trips to slump-down areas to bring a little joy back to their life and to teach them special skills that might be useful to them in the future. International Views: 1. "When you produce a bullet, you commit another sin against mankind, but when you make a toy or a book you bring hope and smile to a child. " --- Kailash Satyarthi --International Coordinator of the Global March, Manila 23 January, 1998. 2. “... 180 million kids are engaged in the worst forms of child labour.

Put it all together and it is not only morally unacceptable, but politically dangerous. --- Juan Samavia --3. “Child labor and poverty are inevitably bound together and if you continue to use the labor of children as the treatment for the social disease of poverty, you will have both poverty and child labor to the end of time. ” --- Grace Abbott --4. “In the past, children were all too often viewed more as property than people. Many victories for children's rights have been won in the last 100 years, such as child labor laws, protecting children from having to work long hours in unsafe conditions; public education, allowing all children to have access to learning; and laws preventing child abuse.

But there is still much to do in protecting children's rights around the world. ” --- Robert Alan Silverstein --- National Views: 1. "Now is the time to act - for the future of our generation. The question of child abuse is crucial, we call on the general public to join hands with us. " --- Boonthan Verawongse --South-East Asia Coordinator for the Global March, Malaysia 18 February,1998 2. “It’s very important for businesses to understand while they are providing employment to the families… that they also have a responsibility to the families and the children who are born of those parents” --- Victor Karunan --Voicing Their Thoughts:

1. This is our right - that (adults) have to listen. This is children's rights. And if they are not abiding with that right, we will work harder to make them hear. ” --- Om Prakash --November 19, 2006 2. "We want to study and learn, not beg on the streets. During the worldwide march I learnt that I, too, am a real person. Now I want to become an engineer. " --- Basu --11 years old Nepalese street child, Thailand 14 February,1998 3. "Why do we have to pay the price of poverty. We didn't create poverty, adults did. " --- Sultana --12 years old garment factory worker, Bangladesh 14 February,1998.

Conclusion In conclusion, I disagree that overpopulation is the main cause of child labour because I think that a corrupt government in the country contributes most to it. A country’s availability of resources and a? airs like poverty rates are all managed by the government. If the government was e? ective, then the poverty rate will be lower and decrease but a corrupted government will only cause the country to become even poorer, hence increasing the cases of child labour. Governments play a major role in eradicating poverty and stopping child labour as the impacts of the continuation of child labour will be devastating.

As we all know, the future lies in the hands of the children and child labour only causes the increase in the illiteracy rate and this is not something good if we are to lead the country in the future. However, governments are not the only one responsible of this current issue and businesses and the society needs to help stop it. Businesses should make sure they don’t employ them at a low costs and we as normal citizens need to be careful not to encourage child labour by buying products that involves child labour. Many things have been done to help stop child labour and many laws have been implemented and enforced.

At this rate, I believe that child labour can be stopped someday and children will be given back their rights if everybody contributes a little to help them.

Resources:

1. http://www. eclt. org/about-child-labour/child-labour-standards
2. http://jordan. thebeehive. org/en/content/1515/2936
3. http://nchildlabour. info/HTML/Intro/CAUSES%20AND%20SOCIAL%20IMPACT%20OF %20CHILD%20LABOUR. htm
4. h t t p : / / c o n c o r d i a . a c a d e m i a . e d u / G i a c o m o J a c k M a g g i o r e / P a p e r s / 3 6 3 2 4 3 / The_Dark_Exploration_into_the_Reality_behind_the_Third_World_Labor_Market_A_docum ent_on_Child_Labor
5. http://www. imeslive. co. za/local/2011/08/05/child-labour-being-ignored
6. http://www. ilo. org/global/topics/child-labour/lang--en/index. htm
7. http://www. irinnews. org/Report/32259/TANZANIA-Child-labour-common-in-Zanzibar
8. http://library. thinkquest. org/03oct/01908/800/whydoesitoccur_childlabor. htm
9. http://anujagarwal. hubpages. com/hub/Cause-and-effects-of-Child-Labour
10. http://sukritha. hubpages. com/hub/ChildLabourStillExist
11. http://www. betterworld. net/quotes/children-quotes. htm
12. http://www. unicef. org/infobycountry/malaysia_61973. html
13. http://www. un. org/cyberschoolbus/humanrights/resources/plainchild. asp

Example 5: The Effects of Overpopulation in the Philippines

The Philippines needs to deal with a major problem that poses a threat to economic growth. Overpopulation is the root of almost all problems in the Philippines and for the country to progress, it only needs to solve overpopulation and everything else will follow. The problem of overpopulation is one of the factors that causes unemployment. Existing businesses in the country can no longer provide jobs to all the workforce in the country.

Jobs are available, however due to lack of educational expertise, which can also be traced from overpopulation, not many people are qualified to handle the available jobs. Even the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, which is currently booming in the country, cannot provide jobs to all Filipino citizens because not all Filipinos are well-versed in English. Overpopulation will not increase the collection of taxes if the country could not give jobs to its population (cited in Orbeta, Pernia and Sanchez, 1999).

The National Statistics Office (NSO) indicates that population would be projected at 90. 4 million in 2008 with a population growth rate of 2. 3 percent annually, one of the highest in Asia. Due to the high unemployment rate, many of the workforce are not qualified as taxpayers which means that budget collection is low. This is considering the number of projects needed to stabilize poverty and other related problems. In short, overpopulation creates unemployment; unemployment creates poverty; and poverty impedes economic growth.

If overpopulation could only be solved, the government could allot more of the budget needed for growth and development rather than shelling out huge funds for housing projects, feeding programs and other projects aimed at alleviating poverty. Overpopulation also results in abuse of the country's natural resources. This, in turn leads to different environmental problems. Pollution is also a factor associated with overpopulation. Waste disposal in the Philippines is a worsening problem which threatens the environment.

The Environment and Natural Resource Accounting Project (ENRAP) indicated that households were found to be the major contributors to air and water pollution in the Philippines. (cited in Orbeta, Pernia and Indab, 1999) For air pollution in 1992, 64 percent of particular matter, 89 percent of volatile carbon and 90 percent of carbon monoxides come from households while 44 percent of biological oxygen demand, 61 percent of suspended solids and 76 percent of Phosphate contribute to water pollution (cited in Orbeta, Pernia and Indab, 1999).

Population growth also affect education and health in such ways that there are close birth-spacing, lower levels of nutrition intake, poor nutritional status, higher infant mortality, smaller per capita health and food expenditures, poorer access to preventive and curative medical care, lower schooling expenditures per child, lower grades for children enrolled in school, lower child intelligence. It was also pointed out that this setup is more evident in families that are below the poverty line (cited in Orbeta, Pernia, Jha and Deolalikar, 1999). The relatively high fertility rate also indicated that it affects education.

It was discovered that enrollment rates continued to increase despite rapid population growth and that per capita expenditure showed a decline even if enrollment rates were not affected by population growth (cited in Orbeta, Pernia and Schultz, 1998). These results were then compared using data from the Philippines and simulation results yield that while human capital expenditures rise, the increase does not suffice enough to sustain the level of per capita expenditure which gravely affects the quality of education (cited in Orbeta and Pernia 1999).

On the other hand, overpopulation in the country still has a positive outcome. The dollar remittances coming from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW), the Philippine Peso still trades well versus the US Dollar. One way to solve the problem, the legislative branch of the government must enact a bill that will limit the number of children that a couple may have. China is already doing this but the one-child policy that they are implementing was deemed too harsh. Having a limit of two children would be just enough to maintain the country’s present population.

It may even be noted that those people who do no have a good standard of living are the ones that have less children while the well-off families have only one to three number of children. Another way of solving overpopulation is by holding family planning campaigns and disseminating proper information on contraceptives. However, being a Catholic country, the Church stand remains to be an impediment. Due to this, the promotion of such initiative remains to be debated by the Government and the Church for a long time.

Addressing the challenges caused by overpopulation remains to be difficult for the Philippine government to address due to the complications and relative problems it gives to individuals and society. The Philippine government must act accordingly to these problems and promote mechanisms to tackle the issue accordingly. In the end, if people and the government will work hand-in-hand to combat the adverse effects of overpopulation, to foster continued growth and development.

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