CBSE Class Answered

In developed countries birth rates and death rates used to be high but with advances in modern medicine, improvements in water and sanitation as well as a better diet, a decrease in death rates have been recorded. There was a decrease in birth rates also as the status of women improved, contraception became more readily available, careers became more important, the cost of raising a family increased and people married later. The population in the developed world is therefore fairly stable and neither rising nor falling significantly.

In developing countries death rates have also decreased rapidly but birth rates have remained extremely high due to the need for children to go out and work to bring in income for the family to look after parents in old age. This is due to a lack of pensions and due to the lack of availability and knowledge of contraception and family planning. As birth rates are so much higher than death rates there is rapid population growth in developing countries.