demography Flashcards
what is demography?
the study of statistics that measure the size and growth of a population
when does a population increase?
when birth rates are higher than death rates
what leads to a decline in the population?
low fertility or and high mortality rates
what does immigration into a country cause?
the population to increase
what does emigration away from a country cause?
the population to decrease
what has happened to birth and fertility rates?
they have decreased
how many births were there in 2014 in England and Wales?
700,000
how many births were there in 1901 in England and Wales?
1 million
what is the total fertility rate (TFR)?
the average number of children a woman has if she followed the current fertility rate
what has happened to the TFR in England and Wales since the early 20th century?
it has decreased
what was the TFR in 2014?
1.83 children per woman
when was there unusual peaks in fertility?
during baby booms after the First and Seconds World Wars
what is the completed family size (CFS)?
the average number of children for a woman born in a specific year
3 patterns in childbearing trends in England and Wales
- people are having fewer children
- women are having children later
- more people are not having children at all
2 factors that have influenced these childbearing trends
- social changes e.g., readily available contraception
- children are expensive and time-consuming
what has happened to mortality and death rates since 1900?
they have fallen
what are infant mortality rates (IMR)?
the number of deaths of children aged 0 to 1 per 1000 live births
what was the IMR for girls and boys in 1901 in England and Wales?
13.6% for girls and 16.6%
what is the IMR now?
less than 0.5%
what has happened to adult mortality?
decreased
what has reduced mortality?
medical advancements in the second half of the 20th century
what do these medical advancements include?
the introduction of vaccines, blood transfusions, antibiotics, better care for pregnant women
what impact did these medical advancements have?
more people survived serious illness and childbirth
when was the NHS created?
1948
what did the introduction of the NHS do?
make health care free and accessible to all
how did the government improve public health?
by regulating food and drinking-water quality and enforcing laws to improve cleanliness
what did improved public awareness of infections lead to?
a decline in disease
what did McKeown (1972) say led to an improvement in mortality rates?
better nutrition
why does McKeown (1972) say better nutrition led to an improvement in mortality rates?
people were more able to fight off infection
what do critics of McKeown point out?
cases of some diseases such as measles rose as nutrition improved
what is happening to the overall age of the UK population?
it is ageing
what is life expectancy?
the average length of time a person is expected to live
what has falling mortality rates led to?
increased life expectancy
what will 1 in 3 babies born in 2013 have a life expectancy of?
100
2 factors that have contributed to an increased life expectancy
- falling infant mortality
- public health
what is an ageing population?
when the number and proportion of older people increase which causes the median age of the population to increase
what fraction of the UK population is expected to be over 65 by 2035?
one quarter
how much has the proportion of over 85s increased since 1985?
it has doubled
2 factors that mean more people live past the age of 65
- improvement in mortality rates
- increasing life expectancy
what does the decline in fertility rates mean?
fewer children are being born
what is happening to the proportion of young people in the UK?
it is decreasing
what does the ageing population change in society?
the burden of care
who does society have a reponsibility to care for?
vulnerable people e.g., children and older people
what is the burden of care?
the responsibility to care for the vulnerable
what does the burden of care put pressure on?
resources
who does the burden of care shift towards in an ageing population?
older people
what is the dependency ratio?
the number of people who are not of working age, compared to the number of working-age people who can support them
how does the dependency ratio increase in an ageing population?
there is a decline in the proportion of working-age people
how old does Hirsch (2005) think people will have to work to contribute towards the cost of health and social care in later life?
into their 60s or 70s
who does Hirsch (2005) think single pensioners will have to compete with for housing?
single young people
what does the competition between pensioners and young people cause?
house prices to rise
what report did the government commission in the 80s?
the Griffiths report
what did the Griffiths report look at?
the long-term care of mentally ill, disabled and older members of society to make it more efficient
what did care of older people leaving hospital used to be carried out by?
NHS services
what is care of older people leaving hospital used now carried out by?
local council social services
what is this shift from the NHS to local council services a movement away from?
institutionalisation (placing people in group homes) towards care in the home
what has delivering more minor health and social care in the home improved?
the independence and comfort of older people who don’t want to move into retirement homes or don’t need 24-hour care
what 3 factors is poverty in old age linked to?
- social class
- gender
- ageism
what is ageism?
discrimination against older people because of their age
what happens to ageism in ageing populations?
it increases
why does ageism increase in an ageing population?
the needs of older people are seen as a problem
what did Peter Townsend (1979) study?
poverty in the UK
what did Peter Townsend (1979) find there is a higher proprtion of in poverty?
a higher proportion of older people in poverty compared to younger people
why did Peter Townsend (1979) say there is a higher proportion of older people in poverty?
older people could no longer rely on income from employment
what type of jobs do people less likely to be in poverty in old age have during their working lives?
higher status jobs
what did Peter Townsend (1979) link this finding to?
social class
how did Peter Townsend (1979) link the status of jobs to social class?
people who were in poverty in throughout their working life were less likely to have saving and private pensions to support themselves in old age
what 2 factors does Pilcher (1995) say affects income in retirement
- class
- gender
why does Pilcher (1995) say gender affects income in retirement?
women often have smaller pensions because they might take time away from work to care for children
what happened to net migration since WW2?
it has increased
what is net migration?
the number of people moving into a country - the number moving away
what was the net migration in 2014-15 in the UK?
330,000
how much did the foreign-born population increase in England and Wales between 1991 and 2011?
it nearly doubled
why was there an increase in the Polish population after WW2?
a labour shortage prompted the government to encourage Polish soldiers to move to the UK
what did the British Nationality Act 1948 make it easier to do?
citizens of the British Commonwealth to settle in the UK
what did the British Nationality Act 1948 lead to a wave of?
mass immigration
what did mass immigration in the 90s outweigh?
emigration
what did the mass immigration in the 90s lead to?
an increase in net migration
what did war and political conflicts in South Africa, Afghanisatan and Iraq lead to an increase of?
applications for asylum (protection) in the UK
when did applications for asylum peak?
2002 at 84,000
when did new countries join the EU?
2004 and 2007
what was introduced after new countries joined the EU?
free movement
what is free movement?
allowing Europeans to move freely within the EU
how did the introduction free movement lead to increased net migration?
new EU migrants arrived in the UK
what has net migration affected the structure of?
society and families
what does the impact of net migration outweigh?
the impact of low fertility rates on population size in the UK
what age do migrants tend to be?
young and of working age
what does the young age of migrants decrease?
the average age of a country
what decreases the dependency ratio?
immigration
how does immigration decrease the dependency ratio?
by increasing the number of people able to support children and older people
who is fertility rate higher for?
mothers not born in the UK than mothers born in the UK
how does the fertility rate being higher for mothers not born in the UK increase the dependency ratio?
by increasing the number of children in the population
why is the impact of the dependency ratio temporary?
because children of migrants will reach working-age and go on to decrease the dependency ratio
what has led to an increase in multi-family households?
net migration
what has increased international migration?
globalisation
what is globalisation?
when nations become more connected and barriers separating societies are broken down
what does globalisation lead to?
more international migration and more diverse reasons for migration
what has happened to British society since the 90s?
it has become more ethnically diverse
how has immigration led to a multicultural society?
migrants have brought different cultures and religions to the UK
what does globalisation lead to different reasons for?
migration
what purposes were half of the visas granted by the UK government between 2014 and 2015 for?
educational purposes
what fraction of visas granted between 2014 and 2015 were to economic migrants?
one quarter
what are economic migrants?
people moving for work
what identity does Eriksen (2007) say migrants in a globalised world tend to form?
transnational identities
what is a transnational identity?
they don’t belong to a single country but a network of countries across the world
what are people with transnational identities less likely to learn?
the language of a country or adapt to its culture (assimilate)
why are people with transnational identities less likely to assimilate?
they don’t see it as a permanent home
why does immigration become a political issue?
governments have to decide whether to promote assimilation or multiculturalism
