Effects Of Rapid Population Increase On Economic Growth

The topic of this research is Effects of rapid population increase on economic growth of Enugu State in Enugu North L.G.A. The purpose of the study was to find out the effects of rapid population increase on economic growth of Enugu State in Enugu North L.G.A The study was a descriptive research. The population of the study was all the inhabitants of Enugu North 35,000 people. Sample size of 395, were selected from the total population through simple random sampling. The instrument used for data collection is questionnaire, which was distributed to 395 respondents comprising of males and females. The data collected were analyzed using chi-square.
Based on the data collected, the researchers found the following:-
That the factors responsible for the rapid population increase in Enugu North L.G.A of Enugu state include high birth rates with accompanying low death rates, rural-urban migration as well as immigrants from other states and local government area. The positive effects of rapid population increase include increase in demand for goods and services, increase in labour force and changes in the production pattern. The negative effects of rapid population increase include unemployment problems, increase in dependency ratio, and low standard of living increase in government expenditure, social problems like armed robbery and other destitute. Rapid population increase can be controlled through adoption of family planning methods, improving the quality of life in rural area through provision of infrastructural facilities and establishment of industries to reduce rural-urban migration, avoidance of early marriages.
Based on the above findings, the researchers recommended that:
i. Parents should adopt the family planning method to control birth rate.
ii. Early marriage should be discouraged by the society.
iii. Diversification of industries both in urban and rural areas to check migration.