Malthusian Theory

O Essay on the principle of Population

by Thomas Robert Malthus ( 1798).

O Malthusian looked at two basics.

Food is necessary for life
Procreation is necessary for life
Both the necessities grow at different rate
O Population at geometrical ratio( 2,
4, 8,16, 32,… )

O Food at arithmetrical ratio

( 1,2,3,4,5,6….)
 Warning to People
O Population outgrows food supply.
O Population doubles every 25 years.
O Food supply increases at a slower
rate than the population. That is,
the food supply will be limited in a
few years. The shortage of food
supply indicates an increasing
population.
 Measures Suggested
OPreventive Checks
 Celibacy

 Marry Late

Abstinence
 Measures Suggested
O Nature has its own ways of keeping a check
on the increasing population. It brings the
population level to the level of the available
food supply.
OPositive Checks
 Famine
 Epidemics, Pandemics
 War
 Natural Calamities
 Criticism
O Too pessimistic view

O Food supply revolutionized

O Use of contraceptive not

advocated
 Theory of Demographic
Transition

OLinked birth rates & death

rates to industrialization.
Stages in Demographic Transition
O High B.R & High D.R

O High B.R & Low D.R

O Declining B.R & Low D.R

O Low B.R & Low D.R

 Stage 1 ( Pre Industrial Stage )
O Population growth is stable.
O HIGH DEATH RATE :
O Many diseases
O Poor medical care
O Poor sanitation
O Limited food supply
O HIGH Birth RATE :
O People have many children because most will die
before adulthood
O Need large families to work at family farms
O No family planning , Religious & social norm
e.g. Europe before industrial revolution.
 Stage 2 ( Transitional Stage )
Population growth increases at rapid pace
DECLINING DEATH RATE
• Better jobs
• Improvements in medical care & sanitation
• Increased food production
HIGH BIRTH RATE
• People are accustomed to producing more children.
• Have more food & resources to supply larger
families.
 Stage 3 (Industrial Stage)
Population growth continues
LOW DEATH RATE
Continued improvements in nutrition, medicine & sanitation
due to higher standard of living.
DECREASING BIRTH RATE
• People stop having more children as children have a better
chance of survival.
• Preference of smaller families
• Increased status & opportunities for women( Education &
Jobs)
• Increased access to contraception.
• Factories & Commercial farms.
 Stage 4(Post- Industrial Stage )
Stable population size
LOW DEATH RATE
High standard of living
Equal access to good healthcare
LOW BIRTH RATE
• About 2 children per woman
• Strong economies , high levels of education, high
numbers of working women.
• e.g. Japan , Europe , USA, Singapore etc.