| Resumen: |
The world population is projected to reach 7 billion. How we respond now will determine whether we have a healthy, sustainable and prosperous future or one that is marked by inequalities, environmental decline and economic setbacks. This milestone is marked by achievements, setbacks and paradoxes.
While women are on average having fewer children than they were in the 1960s, our numbers continue to rise. Globally, people are younger—and older— than ever before. In some of the poorest countries, high fertility rates hamper development and perpetuate poverty, while in some of the richest countries, low fertility rates and too few people entering the job market are raising concerns about prospects for sustained economic growth and about the viability of social security systems.
While labour shortages threaten to stymie the economies of some industrialized countries, unemployed would-be migrants in developing countries are finding more and more national borders closed to them and the expertise they may have to offer. And while progress is being made in reducing extreme poverty, gaps between rich and poor are widening almost everywhere.
The State of World Population 2011 explores some of these paradoxes from the perspective of individuals and describes the obstacles they confront—and overcome— in trying to build better lives for themselves, their families, communities and nations. |
