The steps that have been taken to reduce the problems caused by a rapidly growing population include

• Education about family planning, with the increased availability of a range of contraceptive methods
• Extra taxes for parents who have large families
• Extra benefits for the parents that have only one or two children
• Raising the age of marriage
• Increasing the industry and wealth in a country - this allows it to "afford" the increased population

When a country develops - that is has a higher quality of life, higher standard of living and increased wealth - the birth rate goes down. This is the greatest influence in reducing problems caused by rapid population growth.

Populations growing too slowly

Governments have been concerned when the population of their country is only growing slowly. Indeed some countries, e.g. Hungary and Germany have recently had population decline. The governments have responded by

• Giving mothers longer paid maternity leave; giving paternity leave to fathers
• Generous child benefit payments
• Raising the age of retirement - this increases the workforce and reduces the amount that has to be spent on pensions