Overcoming Overpopulation: Economic Deprivation

OVERCOMING OVERPOPULATION: A SOLUTION TO ADDRESS IN SAVING LIVES FROM ECONOMIC DEPRIVATION Human welfare development and biodiversity conservation have been the two greatest concerns of our generation as of today. As a result, medical breakthroughs, globalization, economic and scientific advancements have been pursued and prioritized in order to sustain the quality of life. However, as industrialization increases, the human explosion has also reached its point that this becomes one of the detrimental issue and threat that the world needs to address. An approximate 81 million people add to the annual population rate of the globe and this fourfold increase in the world’s statistics over the last century has carried a wide range of mass migration, overcrowding megacities, diseases, pollution, and even crime and violence (Kurzgesagt, 2016). It might be alarming how overpopulation turns to be a threat not only to our economic progress and human welfare in the present but also for the sustainable development of the future generation. Thus, it is only necessary to solve the conflict as early as now before it reaches the point of no return. In this article, economic means of resolving rapid population growth will be critically analyzed and explained. Numerous examples of countries addressing the issue on its economic and socio-political perspectives will also be discussed to provide a concrete basis for how each solution will be best applied in a country's natural setting. Regardless of historical skepticisms over the dispute of population growth, several portions of evidence emphasized the significance of overpopulation as a definitive factor in numerous economic, social, and environmental issues. Governments, international agencies, and private corporations perceive demographic projections as an essential tool for economic regain and sustainability in dealing with an increasing population rate. For instance, one major concern for the government across the globe is their growing budget deficits which lie upon supplying basic social security for the elderly who outstand the number of the people belong in the working age. Since there were few workforces in comparison to the dependents with an increasing demand as they retired from the age of 60 and lived up until 78, the tax burden becomes ultimately high on the side of the government if they will not impose a wage tax increase on the laborers. Thus, this will eventually lead to deprivation of better earnings among skilled workers that would significantly affect their standard of living (Mora, 2014). To prevent this from happening, one mitigation measure recommended is to extend the retirement age for elderly people. The traditional retirement age of 60 in several countries, particularly in Germany and France were found to be untimely considering that the life expectancy of elders is reaching 80 due to advance medication and lifestyle support. Extending the retirement age to 65 in France, and 70 in Germany would abruptly decrease the amount of non-workers who relied on the employed group for sustenance and consequently, add more people in the production line that would help finance the increasing cost of economic growth (Walker, 2009). Investing in human capital has been another prospect r...