An Essay on the Principle of Population, first published in 1798, is considered the most influential work on the subject of population of its time. In it Malthus formulated the Iron Law of Population, which holds that an increase in the supply of labor leads inevitably to lower wages and thus to poverty, famine and disease.  He held that population generally increased in times and places of plenty until demand for resources exceeded supply, and that epidemics, famines and wars that stymied growth also masked the fundamental problem.   He proposed  that the only solution was to limit the birth rate through moral restraint on a wide scale.

The book fueled debate on the size of the British population and helped speed the passage of the Census Act of 1800, which mandated a national census to be conducted every ten years.  Malthus revised the work over the course of six editions, incorporating new material and changes in his thinking.  The book has been cited as an important influence in the development of the theory of natural selection by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace.

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