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1、www.123zcyy.com电话：400-618-2500 WhySoManyChildren? InmanyofthedevelopingcountriesinAfricaandAsia,thepopulationisgrowingfast.Thereasonforthisissimple:Womeninthesecountrieshaveahighbirthrate—from3.0to7.0childrenperwoman.Themajorityofthesewomenarepoor,withoutthefoodorresourcestocarefort
2、heirfamilies?Theanswermaybethattheyoftenhavenochoice.Thereareseveralreasonsforthis. Onereasoniseconomic.Inatraditionalagriculturaleconomy,largefamiliesarehelpful. Havingmorechildrenmeanshavingmoreworkersinthefieldsandsomeonetotakecareoftheparentsinoldage1.Inanindustrialeconomy,thesi
3、tuationisdifferent.Manychildren,donothelpafamily;instead,theyareanexpense.Thus,industrializationhasgenerallybroughtdownthebirthrate.ThiswasthecaseinItaly,whichwasindustrializedquiterecentlyandrapidly.Intheearlypartofthetwentiethcentury,Italywasapoor,largelyagriculturalcountrywithahigh
4、birthrate.AfterWorldWarⅡ,Italy'seconomywasrapidlymodernizedandindustrialized.Bytheendofthecentury,thebirthratehaddroppedto1.3childrenperwoman,theworld'slowest. However,theeconomyisnottheonlyimportantfactorthatinfluencesbirthrate.SaudiArabia,forexample,doesnothaveanagriculture-basedec
5、onomy,andithasoneofthehighestpercapitaincomesintheworld.Nevertheless,italsohasaveryhighbirthrate(7.0).MexicoandIndonesia,ontheotherhand,arepoorcountries,withlargelyagriculturaleconomies,buttheyhaverecentlyreducedtheirpopulationgrowth. Clearly,otherfactorsareinvolved.Themostimportanto
6、ftheseistheconditionofwomen.Ahighbirthratealmostalwaysgoestogetherwithlackofeducationandlowstatusforwomen.2ThiswouldexplainthehighbirthrateofSaudiArabia.There,thetraditionalculturegiveswomenlittleeducationorindependenceandfewpossibilitiesoutsidethehome.Ontheotherhand,theimprovedcondit
7、ionofwomeninMexico,Thailand,andIndonesiaexplainsthedeclineinbirthratesinthesecountries.Theirgovernmentshavetakenmeasurestoprovidemoreeducationandopportunitiesforwomen. Anotherkeyfactorinthebirthrateisbirthcontrol.Womenmaywanttolimittheirfamiliesbuthavenowaytodoso.Incountrieswheregove
8、rnmen
