Why So Many Children

In many of thedeveloping countries in Africa and Asia,thepopulation is growing fast.The reason for this is simplE.Women in thesecountries have a high birth rate—from

3 .0 to 7.0chil-dren per woman.The majority of these women are poor,without the food orresources to care for their families .Why do they have so many children?Whydon't

they limit the sizeof their fami-lies?The answer may be that they often have no choice.There areseveral reasons for this.

One reason iseconomic .In a traditional agricultural economy,large families are helpful.Having more children means having more workers in the fields and someone totake

care of the parentsin old age.In an industrial economy,the situation is different.Many children donot help a family;instead,they are an expense.Thus,industrialization has

generally broughtdown the birth rate .This was the case in Italy,which was industrialized quiterecently and rapidly.In the early part of the twentieth century,Italy was a

poor,largelyagricultural country with a high birth rate .After World War Ⅱ,Italy's economy was rapidlymodernized and industrialized.By the end of the century,the birth rate

had dropped to 3children per woman,the world's lowest.

However,the economyis not the only important factor that influences birth rate.Saudi Ara-bia,forexample,does not have an agriculture-based economy,and it has one of the

highest per capitaincomes in the world.Nevertheless,it also has a very high birthrate(7.0).Mexico and Indonesia,onthe other hand,are poor countries,with largely agricultural

economies,but theyhave recently reduced their population growth.

Clearly,otherfactors are involved.The most important of these is the condition of women.Ahigh birth rate almost always goes together with lack of education and lowstatus

for women.This

would explain thehigh birth rate of Saudi Arabia .There,the traditional culture giveswomen little education or independence and few possibilities outside thehome.On the

other hand,theim-proved condition of women in Mexico,Thailand,and Indonesia explains the decline inbirth rates in these countries.Their governments have taken measures

to provide moreeducation and oppotunities for women.

Another key factorin the birth rate is birth control.Women may want to limit their families buthave no way to do so．Incountries where governments have made birth

control easilyavailable and inexpensive,birth rates have gone down.This is the case inSingapore,Sri Lanka,and India，as well as in Indonesia,Thailand,Mexico,and Brazil.In

thesecountries,women have also been provided with health care and help in planningtheir families．

These trends showthat an effective program to reduce population growth does not have to de-pendon better economic conditions.It can be effective if it aims to help women

and meet their needs.Only then,in fact,does it have any real chance of success．In a traditional agricultural economy，a large family____．

A.can be an advantage

B. may limit income

C. isn't necessary

D. is expensive