Births Flashcards
What is demography?
The study of populations and their characteristics, including population size and age structure
What are the factors that most directly affect population size?
- Births (how many babies are born) and immigration (how many people enter the country) increase populations size
- Deaths (how many people die) and emigration (how many people leave the country) decrease population size
Describe why the UK’s population has grown?
- Until the 1980s, the UK’s population growth was due to natural change (more births than deaths).
- Since the 1980s, most the growth has come from net migrations (more immigration than emigration)
Define birth rate
The number of live births per thousand of the population per year
Describe the changes in the birth rate over the years
- There’s been a long-term decline in births since 1900.
- There’s been fluctuations in births, with 3 ‘baby booms’ in the 20c. The first two came after the worlds wars as returning servicemen started families that were postponed during the war
- There was a 3rd baby boom in the 1960s, after there’s been several fluctuations since them in the birth rate
What are the factors determining the birth rate?
- The proportion of women who are of childbearing age
- How fertile they are (how many children they have)
Define the total fertility rate (TFR)
TFR is the average number of children women will have during their fertile years
Describe the UK’s TFR
- It has risen in recent years due to the economic stability in the UK at the time, but it’s still much lower than in the past.
- From an all-time low of 1.63 children per woman in 2001, it rose to 1.83 by 2014.
- However this is still lower than the of 2.95 children per woman in 1960s
What do changes in fertility and birth rates reflect?
- More women are remaining childless than in the past
- Women are postponing having children: the average age for giving birth is now 30, and fertility rates for women in their 30s/40s are on the increase. Older women may be less fertile and have fewer fertile year remaining, and so they produce fewer children
Outline the reasons for the decline in the birth rate
- Changes in women’s position
- Decline in the infant mortality rate
- Children are now an economic liability
- Child centredness
What are the major changes in the position of women during the 20c?
- Legal equality with men, e.g. the right to vote
- More educational opportunities, girls now do better at school than boys
- Changes in attitudes to family life and women’s role
- Easier access to divorce
- Access to abortion and reliable contraception, giving women more control over their fertility
What is the major change in the position of women that is argued to be the most important reason to cause the fall in birth and fertility rates?
- Harper argues the education of women is the main reason for the long-term fall in birth and fertility rates.
- It has led to a changed mind-set in women, leading to fewer children. Not only are educated women more likely to use family planning, they also see other possibilities in life apart from the traditional role of housewife.
- Many choose to delay childbearing, or to not have children to pursue a career. e.g. in 2012, 1 in 5 women aged 45 were childless.
What happens when a pattern of low fertility lasts?
- Harper notes that when a pattern of low fertility lasts for more than 1 generation, cultural norms about family size change.
- Smaller families become the norm and large ones are seen as deviant.
Define infant mortality rate (IMR)
The IMR measures the number of infants who die before their 1st birthday, per thousand babies born alive, per year
What has the fall in the IMR lead to?
Harper argues that a fall in the IMR leads to a fall in the birth rate. As, if many infants die, parents have more children to replace those they have lost, thereby increasing the birth rate. By contrast, if infants survive, parents will have fewer children.
Why during the first half of the 20c, did the UK’S IMR begin to fall?
- Improved housing and better sanitation, e.g. clean drinking water and reduced infectious disease. Infants are more susceptible to infection due to their less developed immune system
- Better nutrition. including that of mothers
- Better knowledge of hygiene, child health and welfare.
- Improved services for mothers and children, like antenatal and postnatal clinics
Describe the medical factors effect on the IMR
- Before the mid-20c, it was doubtful if medical factors had an effect on the IMR, although indirectly, the medical profession had a significant impact through its campaigns to improve public health measures
- However from the 1950s, medical factors began to play a greater role. e.g. mass immunisation against childhood diseases like whooping cough and later measles, antibiotics to fight infection and improved midwifery all contributed to a continuing fall in the IMR
Describe the IMR trend in the UK
By 1950s, the UK’s IMR had fallen to 30 and by 2021 it was 3.7
Describe the IMR trend to the fall in birth rates
- While many sociologists claim that the falling IMR led to a fall in in birth rates.
- Brass and Kabir argue that the trend to smaller families began in urban areas where the IMR remained higher for longer
Describe how children are now an economic liability and the effects on the family
- Since the 19c children have gradually become economic liability, rather than an asset
- Laws: banned child labour, introduced compulsory schools, meaning children remain economically dependent for longer
- Changing norms: about what children have a right to expect from their parents, meaning the cost of bringing up children has risen
- Due to these financial pressures, parents now feel less able or willing than in the past to have large family
Describe child centredness as a reason for the decline in the birth rate
- Increasing child centredness, both in the family and society, means that childhood is socially constructed as an important period in the individual’s life.
- In terms of family size, this has encouraged a shift from ‘quantity’ to ‘quality’, parents have fewer children and give more attentions and resources on these few
Why was there a slight increase in births since 2001?
- A reason for this is the increase in immigration because, on average, mothers from outside of the UK have a higher fertility rates than those born in the UK.
- Babies born to mothers from outside of the UK accounted for 25% of all births in 2011
Describe the future trends in birth rates
The projections for the period up to 2041 expects the annual number of births to be fairly constant, at around 800,00 per year
Outline what is affected by the changes in fertility
- The family
- The dependency ratio
- Public services and policies
How is the family affected by the changes in fertility?
- Smaller families means that women are more likely to go out to work, creating the dual earner couple typical of many professional families.
- However, family size is only 1 factor. e.g. better off couples may be able to have larger families and still afford childcare that allows them both to work full-time
Define the dependency ratio
The relationship between the size of the working part of the population and the size of non-working or dependent part of population
How is dependency ratio affected by the changes in fertility?
- Earnings, savings and taxes of the working population support the dependent population. Children make a large part of the dependent population, so a fall in the number of children reduces the ‘burden of dependency’ on the working population
- But in the long term, fewer babies born means fewer young adults and a smaller working population, so the burden of dependency may begin to increase again
What is meant by ‘vanishing children’?
- Falling fertility rates means fewer children. So, childhood may become a lonelier experience as fewer children will have siblings, and more childless adults means fewer voices speaking up in support of children’s interests.
- Conversely, fewer children could mean they will come to be more valued
How are public services and policies affected by the changes in fertility?
- A lower birth rate affects public services. e.g. fewer schools and child health services may be needed. It also affects the cost of maternity and paternity leave and the types of housing that need to be built
- However many of these are political decisions. e.g. instead of reducing the number of schools, government could decide to have smaller class sizes
Describe an ageing population
- There are more old people relative to young people
- This is an effect of women having fewer babies is that the average age of the population rising.
