Demographics

Question 1

What factors affect population size?

Answer 1

birth, death and migration

Question 2

What is the birth rate?

Answer 2

births per 1,000 people

Question 3

What is the total fertility rate (TFR)

Answer 3

average no. of children a woman would have if she followed current fertility rates throughout her life

Question 4

What are the recent birth and fertility rate trends?

Answer 4

birth rate has fallen since early 1900’s
fertility was high after ww2 and in the 60s (both baby boomers)
birth rate has been falling since 70s

Question 5

How have childbearing trends changed in recent years and why?

Answer 5

• people are having fewer children (average now is 1.7 kids per family)
• having children later (av age is 28)
• more people are not having kids at all
• contraception is more readily available
• women’s roles are changing
• children are expensive and time-consuming

Question 6

What is the infant mortality rate (IMR)

Answer 6

no of deaths per 1,000 children aged 0-1

Question 7

What is the adult mortality rate

Answer 7

no of deaths per 1,000 people

Question 8

What has happened to mortality rates since 1900? Why?

Answer 8

• IMR has fallen - was around 30% now is around 0.5%
• adult mortality has fallen
• medical advances (1948 NHS)
• improved public health e.g drinking water

Question 9

What is happening to the age of the population?

Answer 9

-it is increasing because life expectancy is increasing

Question 10

How does the ageing population affect society?

Answer 10

• society has a burden of care so it puts pressure on resources
• burden of care shifts towards older people, at the same time there isn’t enough working-aged people to look after them, so dependency ratio increases.

Question 11

What does Hirsch suggest needs to happen so old people can still be looked after by the gov?

Answer 11

-they need to work into their 60/70s or pay more taxes during their working life to contribute to the cost of healthcare later in life

Question 12

Why does Hirsch argue house prices are rising?

Answer 12

Young single people are competing with single pensioners for housing

Question 13

What is the dependency ratio?

Answer 13

people who are not of working age i.e under 18 or retired

Question 14

What was the Griffiths Report and how did it change care?

Answer 14

Gov looked at long term care of the mentally ill, disabled and older members of society with the aim of making it more efficient

-became responsibility of local councils instead of NHS to look after old people who have left hospital
-more healthcare in the home has improved independence of old people who don’t want to go into a home
HOWEVER
-gov have cut money to local councils

Question 15

What did Townsend discover about poverty in the UK?

Answer 15

• more old people than young in poverty as they could no longer rely on income from employment
• people with high status in working life were less likely to be in poverty when they’re old
• people in poverty in working life less likely to have savings to support them when old
• women are more likely to be in poverty when old because they have less savings due to time off of work to care for kids

Question 16

What is net migration?

Answer 16

the no. of people moving into a country minus the no. of people moving out

Question 17

What has happened to net migration since ww2?

Answer 17

it has increased:
-labour shortage in poland encouraged polish soldiers to move to UK
-The British Nationality Act 1948 made it easy for people in commonwealth to settle in UK
-mass immigration in 90s due to wars in iraq, afghanistan etc
-2004-2007 more countries joined EU so it was easier to move freely
-

Question 18

How has increasing net migration affected families and the structure of society?

Answer 18

• affect of low fertility rates is outweighed by affect of net migration
• migrants decrease average age in a country as they tend to be working age, so decreases dependency ratio
• led to multi-family households (beanpole)

Question 19

How has globalisation affected international migration?

Answer 19

• it has increased and created more diverse reasons for migrating

Question 20

What do functionalists argue about family diversity?

Answer 20

• Robert Chester- there has been some growth but the nuclear family remains the dominant structure
• statistics show a greater increase than is actually happening because of the aging population (making up the most of single person households)
• nuclear families are becoming less traditional and more symmetrical

Question 21

What do the new right argue about family diversity?

Answer 21

Murray:
-family diversity is a result of a decline in traditional values
see diversity as a threat to the nuclear family and blame it for crime
-single-mother families cause crime as there’s no male role model
- state benefits should be cut to promote marriage and the nuclear family

Question 22

How does ethnicity influence family type and household structures?

Answer 22

Modood:

• white and african-caribbean are more likely to divorce
• indian, pakistani and bangladeshi are likely to be married
• african-caribbean likely to be lone parents
• asian fams likely to be extended fams

Question 23

How does class and sexuality affect family types?

Answer 23

• Bonnerjea- middle class areas have more nuclear families, working class likely to be lone parents
• increase in gay households since 80s due to attitudes and laws
• fertility treatments allow gay couples to have children

Question 24

What do postmodernists argue about family types?

Answer 24

Beck - you can choose who you want to include in your family
Stacey - ‘divorce-extended family’ e.g after a divorce the wife may stay in touch with mother in law
Weston - same sex couples form a ‘family of choice’ (supportive family and friends)