Term 3 Week 4 Task 4

World in a balance - [Channel News Asia 15072007]http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/worldbalance/ - In your view, what are the likely political and socio-economic impacts of the demographic changes we see in the world today? Write a response of at least 300 words and 2 content paragraphs, and include materials from the video “World in the Balance” as well as your own knowledge and experience.



In the past few decades, large families were the norm especially in poorer countries where manpower was needed extensively. However, as the world shifts to technological advancement, the standard of living improves and nuclear families are preferred. In many countries, ways of controlling the birth rate evolved everyday. China, the world’s most populous country, has implemented the one-child policy to curb the increase in birth rate. However, in Singapore, incentives are given to encourage births. The change in world’s demography affects the world as a whole and individual country – both negatively and positively.

Firstly, let’s look at the negative impacts of the change in demography. As there is a decrease in the world’s population, more countries would face the problem of ageing population and thus results in a less robust workforce. A less productive workforce equates a stagnant economy. This also implies that there may be an economic downturn in the country and ultimately affects all other countries since all countries depend on one another for trades. For example, in Japan, women are declaring their independence from marriage and motherhood to pursue professional careers. This rapid decrease in population decays the country’s economic productivity. As the decrease in population brings about unbearable economic disadvantages, some countries begin to encourage more births. For instance, Singapore, with population that forms an inverted pyramid, has yet to meet the replacement rate of 2.1. Incentives and bonuses are given to attract people to give more births.

Politically, less young leaders would be there to rule the country and thus, may lead to the collision of a government. Furthermore, when a country faces ageing population, more healthcare and public facilities are to be given. This strained on the country’s resources which would otherwise be used for its development. Therefore, the country may be deprived of further development and unable to keep up with the world’s growing competitiveness. At the same time, the high living standard allows people to have a much longer lifespan. This means that more old people are needed to be supported by the decreasing young population. Hence, the young people would then have to be taxed more heavily to support the old ones. As a result, people may be unhappy with the government and this is where emigration comes in. The change in demography in this case, disadvantages the country and the world adversely.

Alternatively, by looking at a more positive perspective, the change in the demography can be beneficial both to the affected country and the world. China, the world most populous country, has taken the initiative to bend large families. The stop-at-one one-child policy is an effective one for the fact that it helps to reduce the population by more than one million. This lessens the world’s load exponentially. As a result, resources can now be channelled more to other parts in the world to solve social problems like poverty and famine. This transforms the earth for betterment.

However, we must also not forget, this implementation often accompanied by a vast array of illegal and unethical activities. In China, the implementation of the one-child policy has caused a growing number of female infanticides. As males are more sought after, due to the fact that they carry on the family surname, parents of female infants often kill their baby girls so they can try again to get a baby boy. This posts problems like infant smuggling and illegal adoption. There would also be more male working adults than female ones, causing a largely imbalanced pyramid.

In conclusion, the change in world’s demography may not necessarily a bad one for it brings the redistribution of resources among countries. However, many more negative impacts surfaced. For instance, the growth in emigrations, high taxes on the working adults, stagnant economy and infanticides. Since the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, more should be done to curb this demography change from further deteriorating.