Education is very important for population control.

Education removes IGNORANCE about the functioning of the reproductive system and about the methods of family planning and contraception. It also combats the DESIRE FOR A MALE CHILD and GENDER INEQUALITY, which lead couples to go on having children until a son is born. Educated women marry later and have fewer children, and educated people are more aware of the consequences of a rising population — shortage of food, water and jobs, and environmental damage.

Give at least TWO distinct ways education acts — through AWARENESS of family planning, and through CHANGING ATTITUDES (later marriage, the value placed on a daughter).

The strongest single point is the LATER AGE OF MARRIAGE: an educated girl marries later, which shortens the child-bearing period and directly reduces family size.

This is why population programmes concentrate on female literacy rather than on contraception alone — the correlation between a woman’s education and a smaller family is one of the most consistent findings in demography.