People always say that we have to bring the number of people on earth down to reduce poverty- this leads to practices like the ‘one child’ policy in China. But… 40K Home was once invited to inspect a rag-pickers community* outside Delhi (India’s capital city). In that community, couples commonly had 9 or 10 children each. Why? For starters, once the kids turn about 6, they are put to work by picking rubbish and earning just under $1/day. This means that if you have 9 or 10 kids, the family as a whole pulls in a bit of money. Secondly, because of the terrible hygiene in poverty-stricken areas, there is a good chance that a few kids will die before the age of 5. Lastly, with no social security benefits for old poor people in places like India, people have a lot of kids so that they can be looked after in their old age. This leads to a vicious cycle- the kids don’t attend school, and they can’t break out of that lifestyle. SO, if there wasn’t poverty, there wouldn’t be a need for massive families. Hence, reduce poverty, and you combat overpopulation.

*A rag-pickers community is similar to slum, except much more depressing- it’s a community formed around a rubbish dump, and people spend their days picking through the rubbish looking for things like aluminium foil and blown light bulbs that they can sell to recycling companies.