demography

Question 1

how much has the birth rate fallen since 1901 to 2014?

Answer 1

The birth rate in the UK has fallen from 28.7 million in 1901 to an estimated 12.2 million in 2014

Question 2

What are the reasons for a decline in birth rate?

Answer 2

• Changes in the position of women
• Decline in the infant mortality rate
• children becoming an economic liability
• Child-centredness

Question 3

Why has the changes in the position of women caused a decline in birth rate?

Answer 3

women have increased educational opportunities and there are more women in paid employment. There have been changes in attitudes regarding family life and women’s role within it. They now see other possibilities in life outside of being a mother and a family.

Question 4

How has the decline in the infant mortality rate caused a decline in birth rates?

Answer 4

If the infant mortality rate is low, and more infants are surviving, parents will have less children.

Question 5

How has children becoming an economic liability caused a decline in birth rates?

Answer 5

Until the 19th century, children were economic assets for their children. This has now changed and children are becoming more and more costly. Because of this, parents cannot afford to have lots of children, therefore decide to keep their family small with less children. There are also changing norms of what is expected of what children can have from their parents in material terms, which means the cost of children has risen.

Question 6

How has child-centredness caused a decline in birth rates?

Answer 6

There has been a shift from quantity to quality as childhood is now socially constructed as a important period. Parents are now having fewer children and lavish the ones they do have.

Question 7

Who makes up the dependent part of the population?

Answer 7

The non-working population

Question 8

What are both the short and long term impacts on the dependency ratio when the number of babies being born falls?

Answer 8

short term:
less schools/ maternity hospitals and a reduction in the ‘dependency burden’.
long term:
there will be fewer working adults

Question 9

How does ‘vanishing children’ impact on childhood?

Answer 9

less children and siblings in the family means that the child feels lonelier. However, the family will be more child-centred and the child will be more lavished.

Question 10

How has the death rate changed from 1900 to 2012?

Answer 10

In 1900 it was 19 whereas in 2012 it had more than halved to 8.9

Question 11

What reasons are there for death rates decreasing?

Answer 11

• improved nutrition
• medical improvements
• smoking and diet
• public health
• other social changes

Question 17

What are the effects of an ageing population on public services?

Answer 17

the demand for health and social care services increases particularly age 75+ but many older adults are in good health.

Question 18

What are the effects an ageing population by having one person households?

Answer 18

More pensioners living in houses alone leads to a housing shortage for families.

Question 19

What are the effects of the ageing population on the dependency ratio?

Answer 19

The dependency ratio will increase because the number of dependent people increase. However, policies have been put in place to decrease the dependency ration, such as raising the age at which you can draw your pension and raising retirement age. It is also offset by a reduction in the younger people who need to be provided for.

Question 20

Is ageing a problem?

Answer 20

YES
- strain on services
- one person households
-burden on the family
NO
- age is socially constructed and society makes it a problem through negative stereotyping
- older adults are wise and have more experience
- - can help with childcare
- many older adults have active lifestyles

Question 21

According to Hirsch, what are solutions to ageism?

Answer 21

• financing a longer old age can be done through paying more from savings and in tax whilst working
• raising the retirement age
• encouraging older people to ‘trade down’ for example, the bedroom tax

Question 22

What do Marxists argue about ageism?

Answer 22

Ageism is a result of ‘structured dependency’.
The old are largely excluded from paid work, leaving them economically dependent on their families or the state.
Compulsory retirement means they are stigmatised.
Phillipson argues that the old are of no use to capitalism because they are no longer productive

Question 23

What do postmodernists say about ageism?

Answer 23

Postmodernists argue that fixed orderly life stages have broken down. Trends such as children dressing in adult styles, early retirement and later marriage all blur the boundaries between different life stages. Individuals now have greater choices, whatever their age.

Question 24

What is the impact of migration on the population structure?

Answer 24

working age immigrants help the lower the dependency. However, they have more children which also increases it.
By the longer a group is settled, the closer their fertility comes to the national average.

Question 25

Define globalisation

Answer 25

Globalisation is the idea that barriers between societies are disappearing and people are becoming increasingly interconnected across national boundaries. Globalisation is the result of many processes, including the growth of communication systems and global media.

Question 26

Cohen distinguishes between three different types of migrant, what are they?

Answer 26

• Citizens -> with full citizenship rights
• Denizens -> privileged foreign nationals
• Helots -> (slaves) are the most exploited groups. They are a reserve army of cheap labour and regarded as ‘disposable units of labour power’.

Question 27

According to Eriksen, what has globalisation created more of?

Answer 27

According to Eriksen globalisation has created more diverse migration patterns, which back and forth movements of people through networks rather than permanent settlement in another country.
As a result, migrants are less likely to see themselves as belonging to one culture, instead they may develop ‘transnational’ ‘neither/nor’ identities.

Question 28

What do Ehrenreich and Hochshild say about migration?
Feminisation of migration

Answer 28

Ehrenheich and Hochshild observe that care work, domestic work and sex work in the UK and USA are increasingly carried out by women from poor countries.

Question 29

Suggest two reasons for class differences in infant mortality?

Answer 29

higher class have more money to live better and receive better healthcare.

Question 30

Define ageism

Answer 30

prejudice or discrimination because of someone’s age.