demography Flashcards
what are the reasons for the declining death rate?
- medical developoment
- better standard of living than before- overcrowded + damp
- improved sanitation
- better public health
- free healthcare
- work is less physically straining due to rise in office jobs
- healthier lifestyle choices
- people are more medically informed
- lower air pollution
- better water quality
- factory work is safer and more regulated
- generally better nutrition, knowledge and distribution
- more work/life balance nowadays
what is the curent average life expectancy in the UK?
79- men
82- women
81- avg
age-standardised mortality rates (ASMRs)
allows accounting for elderly population who die more often
what kinds of factors should be considered when studying trends?
- social- eg improved healthcare
- cultural- eg less stress and pyschologcial ‘wear and tear’, smoking is stigmatised
- economic- eg decline of heavy industry, improved living standards
- environmental- eg air quality
what is demography?
- the study of populations and their characteristics
definitions: birth rate
live births per year per 1000 or population
definitions: total fertility rate
avg number of children women will have during their fertile years
definitions: death rate
number of deaths per year per 1000 of the population
definitions: infant mortality rate
number of babies who die per 1000 live births during the 1st year of life (under 2 years old)
definitions: life expectancy
the number of years a person can expect to live
definitions: ageing population
a population in which the proportion of older people is increasing compared to the younger population
definitions: the dependency ratio
the proportion of the population that is dependent on the welfare state compared to those who are in employment
definitions: ageism
a prejudice against people based on their age
definitions: structural dependency (Townsend 2006)
retirement, poverty, institutionalism and restriction of domestic and community roles later in life have contrivuted to artificially structuring the dependency of older people
what are some reasons for the decline in birth rate
- change in the position of women
- decline in infant mortality
- children have become an ‘economic liability’
- child centredness