180 CHAPTER 7 Human Population Change and the Environment
compulsory education they receive. Governments may al-
lot portions of their budgets to family planning services,
education, health care, old-age security, or incentives for
smaller or larger family size. The tax structure, includ-
ing additional charges or allowances based on family size,
also influences fertility.
In recent years, the governments of at least 78
developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and
the Caribbean have taken measures to limit population
growth. Most countries sponsor family planning projects,
which are integrated with health care, education, economic
development, and efforts to improve women’s status.- What is family planning? What effect does
family planning have on fertility rates? - What is the relationship between fertility
rates and educational opportunities for
women?
contraceptives. Fertility declines are occurring in devel-
oping countries where contraceptives are readily avail-
able. Beginning in the 1970s, use of contraceptives in
East Asia and many areas of Latin America increased sig-
nificantly, and these regions experienced corresponding
declines in birth rates.
Family planning centers provide information and
services primarily to women. As a result, in the male-
dominated societies of many developing countries, such
services may not be as effective as they could otherwise be.
Polls of women in developing countries reveal that many
who say they don’t want additional children still don’t
practice any form of birth control. When asked why they
don’t use birth control, these women frequently respond
that their husbands or in-laws want additional children.
Government Policies and Fertility
The involvement of governments in childbearing and
child rearing is well established. Laws determine the min-
imum age at which people may marry and the amount of
High population growth rates exacerbate the poverty
experienced by many in developing countries. Microcredit
programs extend small loans ($50 to $500) to very poor people to
help them establish businesses that generate income. The poor
use these loans for a variety of projects. Some have purchased
used sewing machines to make clothing faster than sewing by
hand. Others have opened small grocery stores after purchasing
used refrigerators to store food so that it does not spoil.
The Foundation for International Community Assistance
(FINCA) is a not-for-profit agency that administers a global
network of microcredit banks. FINCA uses village banking, in
which a group of very poor neighbors guarantees one another’s
loans, administers group lending and saving activities, and
provides mutual support. These village banks give autonomy to
local people.
FINCA primarily targets women because an estimated
70 percent of the world’s poorest people are women. FINCA
believes that the best way to alleviate the effects of poverty
and hunger on children is to provide their mothers with a
means of self-employment. A woman’s status in the community
is raised as she begins earning income from her business (see
photo).
RAFIQUR RAHMAN/Reuters/Landov LLC
Microcredit.
This Bangladeshi woman feeds chickens at her poultry
farm. She received her first microcredit loan to buy a few
chickens and has built the farm into a thriving business.EnviroDiscovery
Microcredit Programs