Rethinking Population Management on World Population Day 2025

Prof Madan Mohan Goel, Proponent Needonomics & Former Vice-Chancellor Thrice

As the world observes World Population Day (WPD) on July 11, 2025, it becomes an opportune moment to revisit the debate on population growth—its challenges, implications, and innovative solutions. Total current population for the world in 2025 is 8,191,988,453, a 0.9% increase from 2024.This year’s theme, “Empowering young people to create the families they want in a fair and hopeful world,” rightly places emphasis on the youth as both stakeholders and solution-bearers in addressing population issues. It also resonates deeply with the Needonomics School of Thought (NST)—a socio-economic philosophy based on “need-based” economics, promoted by the Prof. M.M. Goel Needonomics Foundation (Regd. Trust).

NST views population not merely as a problem but also as a potential blessing, if its management is approached wisely and ethically. NST believes that quality of population, rather than sheer numbers, should be the focal point of national and global strategies.

Reframing the Malthusian Lens: A Needonomics Approach

Historically, population debates have been influenced by the Malthusian theory, which warns that unchecked population growth will outpace resources, leading to famine, poverty, and societal collapse. While this theory raised early awareness about the limits of unchecked growth, it lacked humane solutions and often failed to recognize population as a resource when properly educated, skilled, and employed.

NST neither out-rightly dismisses Malthus’ diagnosis nor endorses alarmism. It offers a constructive alternative rooted in ethics, equity, and economics. One major recommendation is to revisit the legal age of marriage in Bharat . As per current norms, the minimum marriage age is 21 for male and 18 for female—an outdated framework in a world striving for gender equity and delayed parenthood for better preparedness. It is pertinent to note that The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, aims to raise the minimum age for women to 21, bringing it in line with the age for men. As of now (till July 2025), the bill is still under consideration by Parliament and has not yet been enacted.

To raise the age of marriage uniformly for both genders, as suggested by NST, can help reduce early pregnancies, improve maternal and child health, and empower young women through education and skilling. This will also help youth make informed reproductive decisions, aligning with this year’s UN theme and UNFPA findings.

UNFPA Report 2025: Real Issue is Reproductive Agency

According to the UNFPA State of World Population 2025 report, the real challenge is not overpopulation per se, but rather the lack of reproductive agency—a condition where many, especially the youth, cannot have the children they desire due to social, economic, and systemic barriers. A survey conducted across 14 countries revealed that most young people actually wanted more children, but were dissuaded by rising costs, insecure jobs, poor healthcare, and gender inequality.

Here lies the core of the Needonomics message: Population issues cannot be addressed through fear, force, or coercion—but through freedom, fairness, and foresight.

Making Population a Blessing: Needonomics in Action

Needonomics promotes “need-based” consumption, production, and decision-making that leads to sustainable, mindful living. It is about doing what is “needed”—not what is “wanted” or “marketed.” When applied to population management, this philosophy can offer grassroots solutions that empower youth and families alike.

1.     Skilling Mothers on Needo-Consumption

Needonomics School of Thought (NST) advocates the urgent need to skill mothers in mindful consumption, which we define as Needo-consumption—a conscious, need-based approach to managing resources. Empowering mothers with knowledge of nutritional values, budget-conscious planning, and avoidance of overconsumption can dramatically enhance the health of the entire family. It is a potent strategy to address pressing concerns such as child obesity, malnutrition, and food wastage.

At the core of this transformation lies mindfulness—the antidote to the mindlessness that dominates much of modern consumer behavior. Mindfulness, when simplified as the act of observing one’s breath—breathing in and out with awareness—is no longer an abstract concept but a practical, child-friendly form of meditation. I recommend introducing this practice as early as possible, ideally during Brahma Muhurta (3:40 AM to 4:40 AM), soon after waking. This naturally requires an early bedtime around 9:30 PM, a personal discipline I have followed throughout my life. Even 5 to 15 minutes of such breath-based meditation can foster mental clarity and emotional resilience in both children and adults.

NST calls for a conscious shift from mindlessness to mindfulness in all domains—especially in consumption. Practicing Needo-consumption not only ensures healthier choices at the individual and household levels but also contributes to larger social and environmental goals.

To further this vision, NST also promotes kitchen gardening as a sustainable household practice. Encouraging families—especially mothers and children—to grow fruits and vegetables organically foster self-reliance, nutrition security, and environmental responsibility. These small but meaningful acts plant the seeds of conscious living, nurturing a generation that consumes wisely and lives mindfully.

By skilling mothers as champions of Needo-consumption, we lay the foundation for a healthier, more balanced, and ethically responsible society.

2. Training Families on Needonomics Principles

The NST offers structured training programs for both children and parents, fostering a mindset that respects resources, time, and energy. These programs are designed to introduce the basics of Needonomics, financial literacy, and health consciousness, tailored for school and college students.

Parents must also play a key role by not imposing career decisions on their children. Needonomics encourages freedom in choosing career paths, including self-employment and entrepreneurship, rather than chasing socially approved professions that often add to stress and unemployment.

Youth as Change-Makers: Future of Population Management

This year’s World Population Day theme aptly recognizes the potential of youth in shaping the future. But this potential can only be realized when they are equipped with rights, tools, and opportunities to make informed choices. NST is making honest efforts for the awakening of youth for understanding the problems of population explosion. NST believes quantity of population is the challenge for finances, employment, health and social inequalities. Students in educational institutions must think like entrepreneurs and cultivate creative skills.

A capable youth and a balanced society require the adoption of small family norms for effective population control. Empowering youth is essential for building an egalitarian society at all levels, following the formula S = A – I, centered around ‘I’ from the local to the global level.

NST believes that empowering youth requires:

• Holistic education that includes ethics, economics, and environmental awareness.
• Access to healthcare, especially reproductive and mental health services.
• Gender-sensitive policies that eliminate discrimination and create equity.
• Platforms for dialogue and decision-making, including youth participation in policy formulation.

Outreach and Collaboration: NST in Action

To expand its reach, Prof. M.M. Goel Needonomics Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the US-based Institute of Advanced Sciences (INADS) through its Indian subsidiary, Kuruom School of Advanced Sciences (KSAS), Lucknow. This collaboration aims at mutual advancement of knowledge for faculty and students through research, training, and curriculum development based on the Needonomics framework.

The Foundation is also open to signing more MOUs within and outside India, especially with educational institutions, NGOs, and policy think tanks, to promote Needonomics as a viable solution to contemporary global challenges, including population management.

Needonomics as a Soft Power for Bharat

NST believes that Bharat can become a global leader not merely by becoming a manufacturing hub or a military superpower, but by becoming a spiritual and ethical lighthouse, offering alternative models of development, sustainability, and family planning. Needonomics, grounded in Indian ethos and modern relevance, can be Bharat’s soft power tool to influence global debates on population and well-being.

Conclusion:

Population growth is not just about numbers—it’s about nurturing human potential.  Needonomics School of Thought, while acknowledging the challenges of rising population, believes that every challenge contains the seed of a solution, provided we change our perspective from greed to need.

On this World Population Day 2025, we must empower our youth not just with information, but with wisdom rooted in ethics, responsibility, and self-awareness. We must embrace Needonomics not only as a theoretical model but as a way of life, capable of transforming the pain of overpopulation into the promise of a better, fairer, and hopeful world.