Demography

Question 1

Trends in the UK’s birth rate

Answer 1

• The birth rate is defined as the number of live births per 1000 per year
• Baby boom during war time & in the 1950s
• Overall long term decline in birth rate
• Mini baby boom from 2000 due to increased migration
• Decline in fertility rate since 2010
• Between 1901 and 2020 the birth rate declined from 29/1000 to 10/1000

Question 2

Explaining the long term decline in the birth rate

Answer 2

Economic Changes

• Lead to a decline in infant mortality rate due to improved housing & sanitation, better nutrition, better knowledge of hygiene and improved maternal health services for mothers
• Fall in birth rate as parents have fewer children to replace those who die
• People choose to have less children in more affluent countries

Technological Changes

• Development of contraceptive technologies in the 1960s gave rise to Gidden’s plastic sexuality
  ↳ sex became detached from reproduction and so less children because sex is for pleasure
• IVF and egg freezing has led to people having babies later in life
  ↳ women can delay having children into their 40s, extending the ‘natural’ period of fertility much later than is traditionally the case and creating a more diverse life course

Changes in the role of women

• More women in work and increased educational opportunities
• Legal equality with men, the right to vote
• Changes in attitudes to family life and women’s role
  ↳ Divorce is easier to obtain
• Hakim - Voluntary Childlessness: the choice of rejecting childbearing altogether
  ↳ this is a new lifestyle choice that has been made possible by contraception
  ↳ not easy choice to make due to social disapproval and attitudes in favour of procreation

Postmodernisation

• All above changes are part of the broader process of postmodernisation
• Secularisation means that contraception is no longer viewed in a stigmatised way
• Declining birth rates reflect individualisation: the fact that we put our own needs first and it is acceptable to choose not to have children

Changes in the position of children

• Until the late 19th century children were an asset to their parents because they could be sent out to work
• Children have become an economic liability: a drain of parents income which puts people off having children
• Having children is more work and more stress than ever because of the child centred society

Question 3

Long Term Decline in Death Rate

Answer 3

• Death rate is declining and life expectancy is falling slightly

1) Better healthcare: illnesses can get treated better and faster
2) Better technology: illnesses can be identified and diagnosed earlier
3) Vaccinations: greater immunisation from a variety of illnesses/diseases
4) Better sanitation: less chance of getting i’ll for hygiene reasons/polluted water leading to better living standards
5) Better nutrition: people can eat a more healthy and balance diet meaning there is less obesity and chance of cardiovascular disease and health problems

Question 4

Life Expectancy

Answer 4

• In 1851, life expectancy at birth in England and Wales was 40 (males) and 44 (females)
• In 2013, life expectancy for children was 78.7 for men and 82.6 for women
• Around 1 in 3 babies born in 2023 will live to be 100 years old

Influence of Social Class Differences in Life Expectancy

• Manual labour: 4 years off life expectancy
• Good grades affect longevity; can’t get a job

Question 5

The Ageing Population

Answer 5

• Proportion of people in different age groups in a particular population
• Recent trends in the UK have produced an ageing population
  ↳ rising proportion of elderly and middle aged people and a fewer young people and children

Question 6

Arguments that an ageing population IS a problem for society

Answer 6

• Strain on NHS
• Economic burden on those of working age who need to pay taxes
• Emotional & practical burdens on those who need to care for the elderly
• Provision of welfare puts burden on government
• Number of retired pensioners in poverty is likely to increase
• If older people continue working they block opportunists for younger people and may be less competent
• Dependency Ratio: causes economic burden
• State pension age may continue to rise
• Loneliness and isolation
• Modernists: initially see ageing population as problematic
• Healthy life expectancy is not keeping pace with lived life-expectancy
• Children living at home for much longer and so need to be helped with tuition fees and mortgage financing
• Elderly are generally very individualistic: they have retired into property wealth and are unwilling to relinquish the independence

Question 7

Arguments that an ageing population is NOT a problem for society

Answer 7

• Health of older groups of populations has improved
• Grandparents provide childcare
• More people remain economically active longer meaning there is less burden on health and social care services
• Social disengagement theory: many people disengage from society
• Activity theory: many older people are capable of carrying out a wide range of roles and remain engaged in society which is beneficial to their ageing
• Hockey and James: age is a social construct and old age is only a problem if society makes it out to be
• Marxists: old age is only stigmatised in society as it is based on capitalism
• Postmodernists: perception of old age are changing and many experience ‘active ageing’

Question 8

Migration

Answer 8

• Movement of people from place to place, within a society or internationally

Causes

• Push Factors: poverty, fleeing persecution, torture, religious repression, war etc
• Pull Factors: job opportunities, educational qualifications at UK universities/colleges, personal reasons (eg to join family members, partners or friends)

Consequences of Increasing Migration

• Increasing population size
• Age structure changes: immigration lowers the average age of the population
• Dependency Ratio: immigrants are more likely to be of working age (lowers it), have more children (increases it), fertility rate becoming closer to national average (small impact)
• Impacts staffing: almost 200,000 out of 1.3 million staff report a non-British nationality.
• Increases diversity in society and family life
• Recent immigrants have tended to settle in poorer areas so they feel the pressure of jobs and increased burden on public services

Question 9

Globalisation

Answer 9

Positives

• Global optimists: economic globalisation has resulted in increasing trade & resulted in huge economic growth and rising prosperity
  ↳ correlated with declining birth rates and family size.
• Immigrant families have higher birth rates which reduces the dependency ratio
• Increased cultural and family diversity
• Families maintain contact through media and physical visits across national borders
• Cultural globalisation = more people create friendship groups based on shared interests online

Negatives

• Displacement from conflict results in families breaking up
• Increasing inequality in family life and increasing cost of living
• More diversity, choice, uncertainty resulting in decline of people committing to long term relationships (Giddens)
• More media flows: Children are active users of the media
  ↳ More difficult for parents to prevent radicalisation
  ↳ More exposure to global media events; kids are more risk conscious and anxious (link to Toxic Childhood)
  ↳ Furedi: Paranoid Parenting