Until recently, Egypt’s population growth was

Until recently, Egypt’s population growth was so rapid that
it was considered explosive. Many social scientists warned that
there was a population “bomb” that would explode in Egypt,
resulting in growing poverty, hunger, famine, and epidemic,
or even warfare. The population rocketed from 2.5 million in
the early 1800s to about 10 million in 1900, 20 million in 1950,
40 million in 1980, and 70 million in 2002. The primary cause
of this meteoric growth was a sharp decline in death rates.
Fewer children died and people generally lived longer because
of better food production and distribution, and because
medical care and technologies improved. At the same time,
birthrates remained high. Egypt is like most of the world’s
other developing countries in that parents often believe that
having more children will actually help them lead more pros-
perous lives. For example, more children mean more hands
to work in the fields in rural areas, or to work in a clothing
factory or an automobile mechanic shop in the cities. There
are no laws against child labor in Egypt. This point of view is
different from that of most American parents, who are more
likely to believe that if they have fewer children the family will
be more prosperous.