Population Growth in Developing Economies: Statistical Analysis of the Causes, Consequences and Challenges of its Control
Keywords:
Chi-square, Developing economies, Family planning, Population control, Population growthAbstract
The concept of population growth and its consequent effect on the environment, resources and sustainability in general has dominated discussion among intellectuals and leaders of thought today. This study investigated the population growth in Nigeria, analysing its causes, consequences and challenges of its control and specifically on the perceived factors that drive population growth and the government’s effort in controlling it. The study employed a descriptive survey design to extract the opinion of citizens in Lagos State, Nigeria who were purposively sampled and 315 selected who responded to the questionnaire. The results showed that 58% of Nigerians perceived population growth as a problem, the factors that drive growth in the population include a high birth rate, illiteracy, low mortality rate, social and cultural beliefs and religious beliefs. The study concluded that Nigeria's population is growing because of our cultural and religious inclinations, low enlightenment about family planning practices and general illiteracy while major control challenges include social, religious and cultural beliefs.
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