The Family, the building block of society

Healthy families are essential for healthy societies.  Family units are building blocks that help to creature, structure, and form the societies that they are apart of.  That is one reason why I have chosen to pursue a Marriage and Family Therapy degree.  I want to help people.  One of the basic principles that I am currently studying is how much the choices of an individual or a family can ripple throughout society.

For example, one question for couples is "how many children they should have?"  I want to specifically talk about this question.  I am going to talk about a myth circulating it and how the answer to this question really does matter.  One myth circulating in the world is that we are currently suffering from over population.  This myth is simply not accurate.  It is not accurate in two primary ways.  The first way is in regards to space.  Cities may make it seem like we are overcrowded but actually if you gave every family household 1 acre of land it is estimated that you could fit the worlds population into Brazil.  It is also estimated that if you gave every single individual on earth today 1 acre, then you could fit the entire human population into the continent of Africa leaving the whole rest of the world open.  The second factor is in population growth.  I learned from my studies that the reason for the recent population boom wasn't because of an increase in fertility rate (fertility rates have actually been dropping) but because mortality rates dropped.  People aren't dying as often, and they are living longer.  

Now as for impact.  Some people seem to believe that if you have more children then they will use more resources and somehow it will be worse for the environment and the economy at large.  The truth can be just the opposite.  It seems that people can actually be raised to help preserve the environment and to actually produce!  Imagine that, having more people means that we have more "human capital" or more individuals who if educated properly can help to grow the economy and also who can work to preserve the environment.

One thing most people do not realize is that the world is beginning to experience negative side effects from something called "depopulation."  Specifically in America we are seeing the potential decrease in "human capital."  We are seeing less people, who are generally less educated than the previous generations.  This leads to economic problems.

So, long story short, having less children can negatively at large effect society, and having more children has the potential to contribute to the world at large.