Problems of Under population

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 514.

Problems of over population

Overpopulation, under population optimum population

Carrying Capacity:The amount of people that the resources of a country can support.

Overpopulation: When there are more people that the resources available. Overpopulation might lead to unemployment, famine and homelessness.

Underpopulation: When there are not enough people to fully maximise the potential of a country. For example there might be vacant jobs or resources that can not be fully exploited.

Optimum Population: When population and resources are perfectly matched. In reality this is almost impossible to achieve.

· here could be unemployment because there are not enough jobs for everyone

· There could be a shortage of schools and hospitals

· There could be a shortage of hoses and informal settlements grow

· Congestion may increase as there are more cars, buses, etc. on the road

· Prices may increase as demand for houses, resources, etc. increase (inflation)

· There may be a shortage of clean drinking water, electricity, etc.

· There may be an increase in air, noise and water pollution e.g. open sewers, fires, etc.

· The rural-urban fringe may be damaged as informal settlements are built

· There are a shortage of workers

· There will be less people paying tax

· Schools and hospitals may close because there are not enough clients

· Public transport links might close because of less customers

· There may be less innovation and development (lee brain power)

· Not possible to exploit all resources

· Hard to defend country

· Necessary to attract migrants

Malthus: Malthus looked at population and resources and believed that population was growing at a much fast rate than resources. He believed that this would cause a series of preventative and positive checks. Preventative checks would be people trying to reduce population growth themselves and positive checks would be famines and conflicts. (Negative)

Boserup: Boserup was a more optimistic person who believed that humans always came up with solutions to problems. Her famous saying was 'necessity is the mother of invention' which basically means that humans will also find a solution to resource shortages e.g. desalination, development of renewable energy.