Social and economic inequality is highly perpetuated by the access and control to the means of production. The Class system is a type of stratification based on the ownership and control of resources and the type of work people do (Kendall, 2010). As viewed by Karl Marx, class position and the extent of income and wealth are determined by people’s work situations or their relationship to the means of production. The capitalist class consists of those that own the factors of production and the working class consists of those that sell their labor in order to earn money as a means of survival. The division of society into two broad classes is beneficial to the ones who own the means of production (Mooney, Knox, & Schacht, 2007).
Class relationships involve inequality and exploitation. Not only are the working class denied access to the resources available to the wealthy owners, the capitalist class use their power to control the institutions of society to their advantage. The living conditions of the exploited workers only worsen with the prevailing poverty. Poverty is linked with low educational achievement. This influences rapid population growth through lack of knowledge on the use and benefits of family planning methods lacking the control over fertility.
Contemporary Marxist theorists view social problems, such as crime, a result of the class inequality present in the capitalist societies. A capitalist system often translates to poverty confined to the ones that do not own the means of production. The prevalence of crime rates in most countries is very high. The sociological conflict theories of crime, mainly based on classical Marxian, suggests that crime is inevitable where there is existence of two groups of people with differing degrees of power (Mooney, Knox, & Schacht, 2007). Societies with high levels of inequality have greater crime rates. Social inequality leads individuals to commit crimes such as burglary as a means of making economic survival. Crimes are the product of imbalance of income distribution between the rich and the poor. Thus investing public resources to combat the socio-economic inequalities of the society is a better approach in sustaining population growth.
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Malawi is one of the least developed countries with a high population density. With low mortality rates but stubborn high fertility rates, Malawi has a youthful population. Malawi is also a country that is heavily dependent on subsistence as a source of income. More than 80% of the population earns its income from agriculture (Department of Population and Development). Besides the high poverty rates in the country, Malawi’s youthful population also reflects a high dependency population that places a burden on the working class population.
Low levels of education, lack of productive skills and high rates of unemployment are some of the challenges Malawi as a country faces. For Malawi to deal with population and development, it needs to adopt a few strategies. One way Malawi can do this is by improving access to education, including technical and vocational training. Not only does this improve the skills of the people, but it ensures that people are well integrated into the workforce making their skills and knowledge appropriate for the labor market.
Most of the population highly depending on subsistence also makes it necessary for the country to focus in this area. The high density population means that environmental degradation exists. Malawi can promote public awareness programs on the natural resources and conversations to ensure the sustainable management and utilization of the environment without affecting the yields.
Last but not least, a significant portion of the country lives below the poverty line (Department of Population and Development). Poor sanitation, health and malnutrition are associated with high fertility. Including access to the reproductive and family planning services and sanitation programs in the poverty reduction strategies would also help the country in dealing with population and development.
