In general, high poverty leads to which of the following outcomes?

High poverty is often associated with high fertility rates and greater environmental damage. This connection can be attributed to several factors.

In impoverished communities, individuals may have more children due to a lack of access to education, particularly reproductive health education, and inadequate access to family planning resources. In many developing regions, larger families can be viewed as a potential economic benefit, as children can contribute to household income and labor.

Furthermore, high poverty often drives communities to rely heavily on natural resources for their survival, leading to environmental degradation. For example, families living in poverty may engage in unsustainable farming practices, deforestation, and overexploitation of local resources to meet immediate needs. This reliance can amplify environmental damage as ecosystems become strained under the pressures of increased resource extraction and waste generation.

Additionally, areas with high poverty may lack the infrastructure and governance required to manage and mitigate environmental impacts effectively, leading to a cycle of degradation that is difficult to escape. This combination of demographic and environmental pressures illustrates why high poverty correlates with high fertility and greater environmental damage.