"In October 1838, that is, fifteen months after I had begun my systematic inquiry, I happened to read for amusement Malthus on Population, and being well prepared to appreciate the struggle for existence which everywhere goes on from long- continued observation of the habits of animals and plants, it at once struck me that under these circumstances favourable variations would tend to be preserved, and unfavourable ones to be destroyed. The results of this would be the formation of a new species. Here, then I had at last got a theory by which to work".
Charles Darwin, from his autobiography. (1876)
This often quoted passage reflects the significance Darwin affords Malthus in formulating his theory of Natural Selection. What "struck" Darwin in Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) was Malthus's observation that in nature plants and animals produce far more offspring than can survive, and that Man too is capable of overproducing if left unchecked. Malthus concluded that unless family size was regulated, man's misery of famine would become globally epidemic and eventually consume Man. Malthus' view that poverty and famine were natural outcomes of population growth and food supply was not popular among social reformers who believed that with proper social structures, all ills of man could be eradicated.
Although Malthus thought famine and poverty natural outcomes, the ultimate reason for those outcomes was divine institution. He believed that such natural outcomes were God's way of preventing man from being lazy. Both Darwin and Wallace independantly arrived at similar theories of Natural Selection after reading Malthus. Unlike Malthus, they framed his principle in purely natural terms both in outcome and in ultimate reason. By so doing, they extended Malthus' logic further than Malthus himself could ever take it. They realized that producing more offspring than can survive establishes a competitive environment among siblings, and that the variation among siblings would produce some individuals with a slightly greater chance of survival.
Malthus was a political economist who was concerned about, what he saw as, the decline of living conditions in nineteenth century England. He blamed this decline on three elements: The overproduction of young; the inability of resources to keep up with the rising human population; and the irresponsibility of the lower classes. To combat this, Malthus suggested the family size of the lower class ought to be regulated such that poor families do not produce more children than they can support. Does this sound familiar? China has implemented a policy of one child per family (though this applies to all families, not just those of the lower class).

Malthus wrote his famous essay on population in order to controvert notions of human perfectibility which were still current in the wake of the French Revolution (1789), and espoused by such writers as William Godwin (1756-1836) and others. Malthus's purpose was to explode such notions based on his view of the inevitable scarcity that would always be a result of human overpopulation. Indeed the full title of Malthus's 1798 essay explicitly cites Godwin: An Essay On the Principle of Population, As It Affects the Future Improvement of Society with remarks on the Speculations of Mr. Godwin, M. Concordet, and other writers.
Malthus's essay immediately created a great stir and he brought out a second, much expanded edition in 1803. Further revisions followed in 1806, 1807, 1817 and 1826 but they were much less extensive ("Introduction" to Oxford paperback (1993) by Geoffrey Gilbert, p.xviii.)
Perhaps the most controversial section of the Essay (1798) occurs in Chapter V where Malthus attacks the Poor Laws, a decentralized system of poor relief in England, in practice for two hundred years . Malthus's purpose, as he explains throughout and makes clear in his headnote to Chapter V, was to palliate the condition of the poor and he attacked the Poor Laws on the ground that, while they might alleviate short term suffering, in the end, they cause greater suffering.
The section of Chapter V which has received the most censure is Malthus's dramatic call for the abolition of the Poor Laws, which has been called audacious; comparable to calling for the "abolition of the National Health Service in Britain today, or the Social Security System in the United States." (Gilbert, p. xvi) Malthus's call to end "welfare as we know it" confirms the view of many on the left that Malthus is solidly in the conservative, right-wing camp.
However, in the view of this writer, Malthus's profound understanding of the pressure of population on food supplies should not be overlooked because of his controversial program to end the Poor Laws .
Malthus on Sex - Another Limitation
Another limitation of Malthus, another sign that he was a man of his time as well as for all time, was his religious belief as an Anglican parson, that sexuality outside of marriage was a vice, an evil. Indeed, he included vice as one of his positive checks against runaway population growth, since he believed that during conditions of scarcity, marriages wou ld be postponed and people would nevertheless engage in sexual activity outside of marriage.
One way to put a positive spin on Malthus's narrow view of sexuality is to recognize that despite his moral/religious beliefs, he understood the difficulty of moderating the extraordinary power of human sexuality. In Malthus's view, the great power of human sexuality and the lack of sufficient checks to that power, guaranteed scarcity, conflict and misery. homas Malthus: Theory of Population
Thomas Malthus' Theory of Population that was proposed more than two centuries ago, foretold the problems of food shortage that the world is facing today, due to uncontrolled increase in population. Although not foolproof, the theory influenced the formulation of Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection. As you will read through his theory you will marvel at the fact that what describes accurately the condition we face today was scripted almost 200 years ago.
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Thomas Robert Malthus was a British economist and a demographer, whose famous Theory of Population highlighted the potential dangers of overpopulation. Malthus put forth his ideas in six editions of his famous treatise 'An Essay on the Principle of Population'. His thinking took shape under the influence of the optimistic ideas of his father and his friends especially Rousseau, for future improvement of the society. In the first edition of his treatise, Malthus put forth his views that opposed the belief of scholars like Marquis de Condorcet and William Godwin who were optimistic about population growth in England. During the Industrial Revolution, England experienced a steep increase in its population. In his book "The Enquirer", William Godwin promoted population growth as a means for human beings to attain equality. According to him, an increased population would create more wealth that would provide food for the whole humanity. Scholars of such school of thought believed that, both man and society could be made perfect. In contrast to this viewpoint, Malthus interpreted overpopulation as an evil that would reduce the amount of food available per person.

The Theory

In his famous treatise 'An Essay on the Principles of Population', Malthus stated that, the populations of the world would increase in geometric proportions while the food resources available for them would increase only in arithmetic proportions.

In simple words, if human population was allowed to increase in an uncontrolled way, then the number of people would increase at a faster rate than the food supply. A point would come when human population would reach the limit up to which food sources could support it. Any further increase would lead to population crash caused by natural phenomena like famine or disease.

According to him, human society could never be perfected. He believed that man is a lazy animal, who would lead a satisfied life and procreate as long as his family was well fed. However, as soon as human population would feel constraints in food supply due to increase in population, he would again work hard to provide enough for his family. This might lead to an increase in agricultural production to provide for all, but at the same time man would be back to his complacent stage, where all his needs would be fulfilled. This would start the cycle of overpopulation and food shortage, all over again. Having been a clergy, Malthus validated his theory on moral grounds that suffering was a way of making human beings realize the virtues of hard work and moral behavior. Such kind of suffering due to overpopulation and limited food supply was inevitable.

Assumptions

Malthus took into account two main assumptions:

Food is an essential component for human existence.
Humans have the basic urge to multiply.

Explanation
Malthus' theory was based on the assumption that the power of population to multiply is much greater than the power of the earth to provide subsistence for man. In his own words "passion between the sexes is an inevitable phenomenon", hence, when unchecked, population would grow at such a high rate that it would outstrip food supply. According to him, disease, food shortage and death due to starvation, were nature's way to control population. He proposed that human beings adopt measures like infanticide, abortion, delay in marriage and strict following of celibacy to check population growth.