Malthusian theory of population

The world’s population is one of the most contentious issues in today’s world. Every country is concerned, and every country is working to improve its citizens’ lives. Any country’s population has the potential to make it more successful and propel it to greater heights of achievement than it currently is. The population quality of the country is a way of showing the rest of the world how many people are capable of becoming future world leaders. India, one of the world’s fastest-growing populations, is experiencing the same issues as the rest of the world.

India’s population is the country’s most valuable asset in terms of economic development. Despite the fact that we are a diverse nation with people from various backgrounds, the country’s entire population is united by a common bond. The country evokes a sense of belonging, owing to the population’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

Managing a country’s population is also a major undertaking. The health, well-being, and safety of a country’s population is the top priority for its leaders, regardless of their country of origin. A wide range of factors and things that contribute to a country’s population’s health, safety, and well-being are considered. Their surroundings influence the food they eat, the lifestyle they lead, and even the amount of money they earn. It is difficult to grasp the concept of population and population safety. A number of theories developed by experts to make some decisions for the population of any country have been developed to make things easier. One such example is the Malthusian Theory, which will be discussed in greater detail later in this article.

In this article, we’ll get into the weeds of this concept. This article has been meticulously researched and written to ensure that readers are aware of all of the details involved in making decisions for a group of people. It’s a fascinating storey, which is why we recommend that students read the entire article and conduct their own research on the Malthusian Theory.

The Malthusian Theory

One of the most well-known and oldest population theories is the Malthusian population theory. ‘The Principle of Population’ was developed by economist Thomas Robert Malthus in his 1798 essay on the ‘Principle of Population.’ He made some changes to the essay in the second edition, which was published in 1803.

Critical Elements of The Malthusian Theory of Population Growth

A major or critical element of Malthusian theory is comprised of four main components. These are explained in greater detail below.

Population and Food Supply:  Any population grows in a geometric progression, according to Thomas Malthus. The sequence is known as a prime number because each term after the first is the result of multiplying the previous term by a fixed non-zero number. A non-zero number that appears more than once is known as the common ratio.

Consider the following sequence as an example: 5, 10, 50, 250, 1250….

The five-to-one ratio is the most common.

The rate of increase in the production of food resources is proportional to the arithmetic progression, which is a set of numbers in which the difference between two consecutive terms is a fixed amount of time.

The numbers 3, 7, 11, 15, and 19 are just a few examples… The most common distinction is number four.

He deduced that if population growth outpaces food supply, a food shortage will occur, and that exponential population growth will also result in a food shortage.

Preventive Checks: The check’s underlying principle is to reduce the birth rate in order to keep the population in check. Preventative checks are the result of foresight, which allows anyone with a large family to see how their actions will affect them in the long run. When a family has a lot of kids, the standard of living is bound to be lower than average. To support a large family, one must perform more strenuous labour than he can currently do in his current situation. If he is unable to provide for his family, the family members may be at risk of falling into poverty. Men should avoid marrying or starting a family unless they are confident in their ability to support a family on their own.

Positive Checks: Warfare, disease, famine, and other natural disasters are all used to justify this restriction: these and other factors slow population growth. The population would be reduced to a level that could be sustained by the available food supply as a result of these developments. Positive checks, according to Malthus, would lead to a Malthusian catastrophe, forcing a population to revert to its most basic survival methods.

 Why was the Malthusian Theory of Population Criticised?

Since its inception, the Malthusian theory has been criticised, primarily for its underlying principles. The following is a summary of some of the grounds on which the theory has been criticised.

Based on the growth of the human population, Malthus made doomsday predictions about future economic conditions. In contrast to the theory, the human population has not increased as quickly as predicted by the theory, but food production has increased as a result of technological advancements in the agricultural and other food sectors. Over the centuries, the human population’s overall living standards have improved. The fact that food production would be unable to keep up with population growth due to the operation of diminishing returns in agriculture, as predicted by Malthus, was one of the most important supporting arguments for his theory. Recent technological advancements, combined with significant capital investments in the agricultural sector, have allowed the stage of diminishing returns to be postponed. Agricultural growth has been aided by the use of high-quality seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, and machinery, among other factors. The Green Revolution in India, which took place between 1960 and 1970, is one of the most notable examples of this. As a result of improved farming methods and new inventions, food production has increased to the point where it can support a growing population. • According to Malthus, fertile lands for food production are limited in supply, which is why food production can never keep up with population growth. However, when calculating the population size, he neglected to account for the various types of food production available.

Conclusion 

It is known as the Malthusian Theory of Population because it is based on the exponential growth of population and the arithmetic growth of food supply. Thomas Robert Malthus was the person who proposed the theory. He was of the opinion that preventive and positive checks could be used to achieve a balance between population growth and food supply.