Children, Families, & Communities:Hardin argued, when people decide to have as many babies as they desire, they seldom share the resulting social costs of large families. As in the case of
the shortsighted shepherds, this is bound to result in economic crisis. And, in order to prevent or minimize these costs, policies are needed.
The Legal Dimension:Policy Implementation & Fertility DeterminantsIn principle, population laws can focus on any of the components of growth: birth, death, in-migration, out-migration, or on factors that indirectly contribute to these, such as marriage (and divorce).
Fertility-control laws now in effect seek to manipulate one or more of these determinants in order to slow population growth.
Postpartum abstinence is a traditional method of birth control throughout Africa and other parts of the developing world. In most countries, it is practiced to promote the survival of the newborn, on the grounds that pregnancy shortly after a birth is likely to diminish the mother’s ability nourish the child.