Demography Flashcards
1
Q
What is demography?
A
- study of population, including factors affecting its size and growth- whether a population is growing, declining or stable is affected y factors like Birth and immigration that in turn inc population or Deaths and emigration that in turn decrease population
- natural change is number of births minus number of death- net migration is the number immigrating into a nation minus the number emigrating from it
- population around 65m
2
Q
What are the measures of birth and how have they and do they affect family size?
A
- Birth Rate: is the number of lives births per
1,000 of population per year- has been a long-term decline in birth rate. I 1900 it was almost 29, by 2014 had fallen more than 60% to 12.2- however there have been fluctuations- 3 ‘baby booms’ after World wars and in 60’s- rate fell sharply in the 1970s, rose during the 1980s and 1990s, and then fell until recent increase since 2001 - fertility rate is an avg number of children a women will have during her fertile years (15-44)- in 60s baby boom, reached an avg of 2.95 children per women, declining to an all-time low of 1.63 in 2001, before rising slightly to 1.83 in 20140 fertility rate affects family/household size- more kids a women has the bigger the family
- more women are remaining childless nowadays, women having children later- the avg age is now 30
- however family size does not just depend on the number of kids -e.g. divorce divides a family into 2 smaller ones and reduces chance of women having more children
3
Q
What are more recent facts of births affecting population trends?
A
- 657,076 live births in England and Wales in 2018, a decrease of 3.2% since 2017 and a 9.9% dec since most recent peak in 2012
- fertility rates in all age groups decreased except women aged 40 and above- where rate remained at 16.1 births per 1,000 women
- avg age of mothers and fathers in England and Wales inc for 10th consecutive year in 2018- 30.6-> 33.6
- more live births in most deprived areas of England and Wales than in least deprived
4
Q
What are more recent facts of births affecting population trends?
A
- 657,076 live births in England and Wales in 2018, a decrease of 3.2% since 2017 and a 9.9% dec since most recent peak in 2012
- fertility rates in all age groups decreased except women aged 40 and above- where rate remained at 16.1 births per 1,000 women
- avg age of mothers and fathers in England and Wales inc for 10th consecutive year in 2018- 30.6-> 33.6
- more live births in most deprived areas of England and Wales than in least deprived
5
Q
What are the reasons for decline in the birth and fertility rate, therefore smaller families (Contraception, Compulsory education, the rising costs of having children, Changing position of women)
A
- Contraception: more effective, safer and cheaper methods of birth control developed over last century- and less disproval in society to acceptance for contraception particularly due to feminism increase- safe and legal Abortion 1967 also
- Compulsory education- children barred from employment 19th C.- education became compulsory- children become an economic liability as also no longer work than before due to changing norms and laws banning child labour- burden
- Rising costs of having children- links to one above almost as one para- avg cost of raising a child from birth until age of 21 is around £271,000 including costs for education, school trips, university, train and bus fares, toys, food, leisure etc- parents have therefore began to limit family size in order to secure themselves to a higher living standard
-Changing position of women- feminism-. more equal status with men and greater employment opportunities and many wish to pursue own career - women today have different priorities from those earlier generations and do not desire to spend long years of life bearing children- Sharpe found girl priorities from love and marriage in late 70s has changed to career, job and security by the late 90s- motherhood desire replaced by degree qualification
6
Q
What are the reasons for decline in the birth and fertility rate, therefore smaller families (Decline in infant mortality rate, geographically mobile labour force, changing values, child centredness)?
A
- declining infant mortality rate- until 40’s absence of welfare state meant many parents relied o children to care for them in an old age- however although more babes beginning to survive infancy, was still often uncertain whether a child would outlive parents- parents often therefore had many children as a safeguarding- fewer deaths and therefore parents no longer need more children
- geographically mobile labour force- modern societies generally require a geog mobile workforce- easily move to areas for work or promotion- encourages smaller families bc they can more easily pack up and move
- Changing values- parenthood involves greater pressure on couples, a lifelong commitment, a loss of freedom and independence, and sacrifices like cuts in money to spend on consumer goods and the loss of time for leisure and pleasure-m with growing individualisation and impact of feminism many women want more from life beyond motherhood
-child centeredness- the inc child centeredness both of family and society as a whole means that childhood is now constructed as a uniquely important period in individuals life- this in terms of family size has encouraged a shift from quantity to quality- parents have fewer children and lavish more time, attention and resources on them
7
Q
What is the death rate and life expectancy ?
A
- death rate = number of deaths per thousand of the population per year- it has halved from 19 in 1900 down to 8.9 by 2012
- number of death has been fairly stable since 1900 (about 600,000 per year), but there has been fluctuations - world wars and 1918 flu epidemic
- death rate rose in 30s and 40s due to econ depression and wars
- life expectancy refers to how long on avg a person born in a given year can expect to live- life expectancy greatly inc since 1960
- falling infant mortality- lower life expectancy in 1900 was largely due to high IMR pulling down the avg life expectancy of the population as a whole - as the IMR feel, life expectancy rose
8
Q
Explanations of the decline in death rate and infant mortality rate (increasing life expectancy)?
A
- improved hygiene, sanitation and medicine - enormous improvement with construction of public sewer system, clean running water, improved public awareness- all contributed to elimination of greatest killer in UK Cholera and typhoid spread via infected water and food- caused greater living standards- better diet - medical advancements like vaccines, penicillin, anti-biotics, life-saving drugs, medical tech, surgery
- higher living standards- McKeown-> rising living standards have further assisted in reducing death rates. Higher wages, better food, improved housing conditions with less damp, inside toilets and running hot water increased life expectancy- more affordable fresh fruit and veg
-Public health and welfare- particularly the establishment of welfare state in 1948- NHS has provided free and comprehensive healthcare- better antenatal and postnatal care for mothers- childbirth= safer- health visit checks on young babies- pensions and range of services like home help, social workers and residential care homes - Health education- couples with above- awareness via improved educational standards- websites like NHS choices allowed for prevention and treatment of ill-health and promotion of good health via advertising- giving up smoking and eating balanced diet
- improved working conditions- less dangerous jobs like manual- working conditions improved dramatically in 20th C- tech has taken over health-damaging tasks and factory working much safer than prior- health risks reduced
9
Q
What are reasons for difference in health chances and mortality rates for social groups ?
A
- Class: official stats reveal massive social class inequality with health- poverty main driver of ill health and poorer usually get more sick- die younger than richer ppl- benefits people likely for cheaper junk food- smoking, alcohol, obesity, poor diet, exercise lack are all common- avg death 7-10 younger than rich, w/c need doctor appointments more than m/c
- Gender: gender role socialisation mean males more likely to brought up shrugging off illness and less likely GP visits- Mackenzie et all found men are not socialised to show emotions unlike women- fewer stress outlets and less likely to admit things like stress or mental health explaining suicide rate - women take more care of themselves- longer working hours- sporting injuries, drugs likelihood
-Ethnicity- iller health from Black and minority groups more likely to report themselves about illness. Higher ethnic likelihood to suffer from Cancer and diabetes. Mental illness from ethnic minorities much more likely to receive a diagnosis of mental illness, one in 5 patients in hospital from mental illness come from a black and minority ethnic group background- around twice their proportion in population as a whole. Most disadvantaged group is Gypsy/Traveller community infant mortality 3x higher than national avg- perhaps unsafe birth giving’s.
Region: wide health differences in parts of community- clear north-south divide in health and life expectancy- affluent or deprived areas of the country- death chances fifth higher up north then south, especially men- Boys life expectancy at birth is 13 years less than and Girls 10 years less than Chelsea and Kennington, Upper and middle class ppl have better health care and likely to be more in certain regions
10
Q
What is an ageing population and how is it caused?
A
- the avg age of UK population= rising- in 1971 was 34.1yrs, 2013= 40.3- fewer younger ppl and more older ppl - number of over 65s equalled number of under 15s for first time in 2014
- it is caused by :
- inc life expectancy: ppl living to older age
- declining infant mortality: hardly anyone dies in early life
- declining fertility- fewer younger ppl are being born in relation to the number of older ppl in the population
11
Q
What are the effects of an ageing population?
A
- public services- older ppl consume more health and social care services, as well as become effectively younger, healthier and fitter- some keen to avoid dependency needs
- more one-person pensioner households
- rising dependency ratio- non-working need to be provide for by those of working age
- ageism- age statuses are socially constructed - often constructed as a problem- portrayals of incompitanceness or burden
- policy implications- Hirsch- argues that we will need to new policies to finance a longer old age- could be done either by paying more taxes or by raising retirement age, or both
12
Q
What are the ‘advantages’ of an ageing population?
A
- economy boost- increasingly important contribution to UK economy in specific leisure and culture industries such as travel, tourism, museums etc- also still might continue paid work
- more social cohesion and community involvement- as retire play a more important community role- survey found nearly 4,9 million ppl (2013-14) aged 65+ in England took part in volunteering or civic engagement activities -> build social networks, building social cohesion and involvement in local communities
- less crime- generally more law abiding
-family support- grandparents often play an important role in providing unpaid childcare, such as babysitting services and taking small kids to school and picking up afterwards- also provide financial and emotional assistance to families - childcare allows parents to work if cant afford childcare-‘free childcare’
13
Q
What are the ‘disadvantages’ of an ageing population?
A
- dependency ratio: inc number of older ppl have to be supported by decreasing proportion of working population- a burden- may mean a higher taxes on those working, to pay for higher levels of govt spending on pensions and other welfare benefits, health and social services- not enough time or ppl to care sufficiently for elderly
- more poverty and family hardships: ageing pop= more poverty (potentially) as Marxists say, capitalists profit is needed via labour power that most are able to maintain a reasonable standard of living- drop in income- family encountering financial hardships, as younger ppl face having to support for themselves and children but also parents
- loss of skill and experience from labour force which has been built up over a lifetime- can take longer time to replace and employers regard younger workers ‘less reliable’ and ‘committed’ than older
- older ppl may face growing isolation- friends may die and need children to visit and support them
- more ill-health and disability- ageing pop does bring in more ill health diseases like Alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancers- lonely may have mental health concerns
- family stress- emotional strain and overcrowding–> conflict between couples or child-grandparent, as well as growing costs
- more work for women- feminists claim burdens usually fall for women- even with carrying most other burden of housework
- housing shortages- younger ppl may not find homes as older ppl occupy for longer
14
Q
What are the perspectives on ageing?
A
- Functionalists: Cummings and Henry claim marginalisation of old ppl was actually functioning for society as the disengagement of ppl from social roles was necessary and beneficial for society.
- Interpretation of age- as a social construct: Hockey and James- disagree with Cummings and Henry- instead argue the role of elderly results from interpretations of old age Western societies- social construct- culture depends on meanings attached to old age that can be more disabling than psychological changed- in contemporary Britain, stereotypes and media make old age appear similar to childhood- old age is infantilised- elderly seem childlike
-Structured dependency: sees disadvantaged of elderly linked to SD. Common similarities to Marxist view that elderly as disadvantaged and poor bc of society structured this way - Postmodernism: Blaikie argues in a postmodern culture, old age is a time of increased choice and opportunity as opposed to time dependency- at least in years of retirement- old age is less of a barrier to living an active life as once as
15
Q
What is Migration, Immigration, Emigration and Net migration?
A
Migration refers to the movement of ppl from place to place- can be internal, within a society, or international
Immigration refers to movement into a society
Emigration refers to movement out of a society
Net Migration- the difference between number of immigrations and number of emigrants, expressed as a net inc or net dec due to migration
