(a) Explain four ways in which a fall in birth rate can be beneficial to a country (b) What four problems can arise from a fall in the birth rate of a country? (c) In what four ways can the birth rate of such a country be increased?
Explanation
(a) Four benefits of a fall in birth rate include: (i) High per capita income (ii) High standard of living (iii) Adequacy of available social amenities and services for the people (iv) Abundant food supply for the few people (b) Four problems resulting from a fall in the birth rate of a country include: (i) Inadequate skilled and unskilled labour (ii) Low rate of exploitation of natural resources (iii) Low rate of economic development (iv) High dependency ratio, i.e. more of aged people than young ones (c) Four ways of increasing the birth rate include: (i) Encouragement of early marriages (ii) Legislation in favour of abortion (iii) Provision of benefits for single parents (iv) Government incentives such as free medical care.