WEBVTT

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A common misunderstanding is that if we save all the poor children, the world will become overpopulated.

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This may sound logical, but it's wrong.

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It's the other way around!

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Saving the poor children's lives is required to end population growth.

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Now! Look at the UN numbers.

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Poor parents on average have five children. And one dies.

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Look! Two parents are replaced by four surviving children in the next generation.

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This means population is growing very fast among the poorest.

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This is the average family in the worst off places like Congo and Afghanistan.

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Today, where child mortality is highest, that's where population is growing faster than anywhere else.

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How many people live like this?

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There are seven billion people in the world. One block: one billion.

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The poorest two billion...

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...they live like this.

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The other five billion...

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...they have this average family. Two parents having two children and there are few child deaths.

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This is the majority of the world population, not only Europe and the US.

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It's throughout religions and cultures: China, Iran, Mexico, large cities in Africa.

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Today in most populations children just replace parents.

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And the size of generations are no longer increasing.

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This means the population will stop growing.

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How did so many people end up with small families?

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Well, their children stopped dying.

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As they left extreme poverty and girls got education, parents no longer had to

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compensate for child death by having many babies. And a large family stopped being

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an economic necessity or a social status symbol.

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And with modern contraceptives, parents across the world, the majority,

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decided to have a small family.

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So, by saving the lives of poor children and helping the last two billion out of poverty,

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these parents will also decide to have fewer children.

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And fewer.

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Eventually...

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...reaching the two child family.

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That showed the UN family size forecast up to the end of the century.

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Then the world population is expected to stop growing.

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Before it stops, another four billion people will be added to the world population.

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Four billion more. That's a lot of people!

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But the longer poor children keeps dying and this change is delayed,

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the more billions will be added.

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So ending population growth starts by saving the poorest children.