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1、+第三十八篇WhySoManyChildren?为什么人口剧增？InmanyofthedevelopingcountriesinAfricaandAsia,thepopulationisgrowingfast.Thereasonforthisissimple:Womeninthesecountrieshaveahighbirthrate—from3.0to7.0childrenperwoman.Themajorityofthesewomenarepoor,withoutthefoodorresour
2、cestocarefortheirfamilies?Theanswermaybethattheyoftenhavenochoice.Thereareseveralreasonsforthis. Onereasoniseconomic.Inatraditionalagriculturaleconomy,largefamiliesarehelpful.Havingmorechildrenmeanshavingmoreworkersinthefieldsandsomeonetotakecareofth
3、eparentsinoldage1.Inanindustrialeconomy,thesituationisdifferent.Manychildren,donothelpafamily;instead,theyareanexpense.Thus,industrializationhasgenerallybroughtdownthebirthrate.ThiswasthecaseinItaly,whichwasindustrializedquiterecentlyandrapidly.Intheea
4、rlypartofthetwentiethcentury,Italywasapoor,largelyagriculturalcountrywithahighbirthrate.AfterWorldWarⅡ,Italy'seconomywasrapidlymodernizedandindustrialized.Bytheendofthecentury,thebirthratehaddroppedto1.3childrenperwoman,theworld'slowest.However,theecon
5、omyisnottheonlyimportantfactorthatinfluencesbirthrate.SaudiArabia,forexample,doesnothaveanagriculture-basedeconomy,andithasoneofthehighestpercapitaincomesintheworld.Nevertheless,italsohasaveryhighbirthrate(7.0).MexicoandIndonesia,ontheotherhand,arepoor
6、countries,withlargelyagriculturaleconomies,buttheyhaverecentlyreducedtheirpopulationgrowth.Clearly,otherfactorsareinvolved.Themostimportantoftheseistheconditionofwomen.Ahighbirthratealmostalwaysgoestogetherwithlackofeducationandlowstatusforwomen.2Thisw
7、ouldexplainthehighbirthrateofSaudiArabia.There,thetraditionalculturegiveswomenlittleeducationorindependenceandfewpossibilitiesoutsidethehome.Ontheotherhand,theimprovedconditionofwomeninMexico,Thailand,andIndonesiaexplainsthedeclineinbirthratesintheseco
8、untries.Theirgovernmentshavetakenmeasurestoprovidemoreeducationandopportunitiesforwomen.Anotherkeyfactorinthebirthrateisbirthcontrol.Womenmaywanttolimittheirfamiliesbuthavenowaytodoso.Incountrieswheregovernmentshavemadebirthcontroleasil
