Population and the Environment 6. Economic and Social Impacts 7. Population and Religion 8. Personal and Global Solutions Population Matters 6. Homeless child in Calcutta, India.
Poverty is an integral piece of the population puzzle.
Poverty is linked to social breakdown, domestic violence, unintended pregnancy, illegal drug use, environmental destruction, and, as noted above, to violent crime. Whether population growth causes poverty or whether poverty causes population growth is a matter of great debate. What is clear is that, despite remedial efforts, poverty is increasing. The percentage of people in poverty is declining, but the absolute numbers are rising. More than 800 million people around the world do not get enough food.