Deaths

Question 1

How has the death rate changed since 1900?

Answer 1

1900- 19

2012- 8.9

Question 2

What are the reasons for the decline in the death rate?

Answer 2

1. Tranter (1996): over 3/4 of the decline in the death rate from 1850 to 1970 was due to a fall in the no. of deaths from infectious diseases
2. Improved nutrition
   - Increased resistance to infection and increased the survival chances
   - However, McKeown doesn’t explain how although women eat less of this improved nutrition, live longer than males
3. Medical improvements
   - Advances included the introduction of antibiotics, blood transfusions, NHS in 1948
4. Smoking and diet
   - Move from smoking to obesity
5. Public health measures
   - Improvements in housing, ie better ventilation, less overcrowding
   - Better drinking water, the pasteurisation of milk, improved sewage disposal

Question 3

Life expectancy

Answer 3

Males, 1900- age 50, 57 for females
Males, 2013- age 90.7, 94 for females
- A newborn baby today has a better chance of reaching its 65th birthday than a baby born in 1900 had of reaching its first birthday
- But there are class, gender and regional differences: