Technological progress, has a way of making resources appear from nowhere; when there are more people around there are more people looking for new ideas, and so perhaps technological breakthroughs are more likely. Indeed, for most human history (starting in 1 million BC) regions or countries that had more people were growing faster than the rest.
Poor countries can be poor because they have higher fertility, or it can mean that because they are poor their fertility is high.
Telenovelas. Girls, uniforms, sugar daddies and HIV.
“Do the poor control their family decisions?” Their fertility decisions are the product of a choice, and even the lack of availability of contraception does not seem to be a big constraint. At the same time, what leads them to make these choices may be in part factors that are outside their immediate control: women, in particular, may be pressured by their husbands, their mother-in-law, or social norms to bear more children that they would like. Making contraception available will not be sufficient. Affecting social norms may be more difficult, although the example of TV in Brazil shows it can be done. But the social norms may also reflect economic interests in a society. To what extent do the poor want many children simply because it is a sound economic investment?
Sex selective abortions
Having effective social safety nets (such as health insurance or old age pensions) or even the king of financial development that enables people to profitably save for retirement could lead to a substantial reduction in fertility and perhaps also less discrimination against girls.