Case study: population and Environment Bangladesh

Question 1

What has the government done to decrease birth rates in Bangladesh?

Answer 1

• government legislation has increased the minimum age of marriage to 21 and 18 for men and women
• mothers are introduce to and given appropriate advice on contraception

Question 2

What did Bangladesh do to control its population?

Answer 2

• raised the minimum age of marriage to 18 for girls and 21 for boys
• invested in primary healthcare
  > increased access to contraception
  > reduced the amount of maternal mortality
• female empowerment

Question 3

What were the strengths of the Bangladesh’s population control?

Answer 3

• girls stayed in education past 18, and went into further education
  > improves the economy
• reduced child mortality by 2/3rds
• reduced maternal mortality
• less money spend on children, more spent investing on local economy
• less strain on services
• went from 6 babies per woman in the 70s/80s to just over 2 in 2020

Question 4

What were the weakness of the Bangladesh’s population control?

Answer 4

• gender imbalance
  > girls discarded
• younger boys are given preferential treatment
  > they stay in the family