Demography

Question 1

Demography

Answer 1

• family and population are closely linked. E.g, new members of the population are mostly born into and raised by families, while the kinda of care they receive from their family affects their chances of survival. Similarly, as the study of Anderson shows, when people migrate from country to country or religion to religion, they often rely on kin to facilitate their move
• the study of populations and their characteristics is called demography. These characteristics include:
• size
• age structure - the average age of the population raising or falling
• births - how many babies are born
• deaths - how many people have died
• immigration - how many people enter the country from elsewhere (IN)
• emigration - how many people leave the country to love somewhere else (OUT)

Question 2

Uk population growth

Answer 2

• until the 1980s, uk population was largely the product of natural change - that is, the result of there being more briths than deaths. However, since the 1980s most of the growth has come from net migration- that is, more immigration than emigration

Question 3

Births

Answer 3

• the number of births obviously affects population size. Sociologists use the concept of birth rate to measure births. The birth rate is defined as the number of live births per thousand of the population per yer
• there has been a long term decline in the number of births since 1900. In that year, England and wales had a birth relate of 28.7, but 2014 it had fallen to an estimated 12.2
• however, there have been fluctuations in birthday, with three ‘baby booms’ in the 20th century. The first two came after the two world wars, as retiring servicemen and their partners had started families that they had postponed during the war years
• thee was a third baby boom in the 1960s, after which the birth rate fell sharply during the 1970s. The rate rose during the 1980s, before falling again after the early 1990s, with some increase since 2001

Question 4

The total fertility rate

Answer 4

• the factors determining the birth rate are, firstly, the proportion of women who are child rearing age and, secondly, how fertile they are - that is, how many children they have. The total fertility rate (TFR) is the average number of children women will have during their years
• the TFR has risen in recent years, but it is still much lower than in the past. From an all time low of 1.63 children per women in 2001, or rose to 1.83 by 2014. However, this is still far lower than the peak of 2.95 children per women reached in 1964 during the 1960s baby boom
• these changes in fertility and birth rates reflect the fact that:
• women are remaining childless than in the past
• women are postponing having children: the average age for giving birth is now 30, and fertility rates for women in their 30s and 40s are on the increase. Older women may be less fertile and have fewer fertile tears remaining, and so they produce fewer children

Question 5

Reasons for the decline in the birth rate

Answer 5

• sociologists have identified a number of reasons for the long term decline in the birth rate since 1900. These reasons involve a range of social, economic, cultural, legal, political and technological factors.

Question 6

1. Changes in women’s positions

Answer 6

• there were major changes in the positions of women during the 20th century. These include:
• legal equality with men, including the right to vote
• increased educational opportunities- girls now do better at school than boys
• more women in paid employment, plus laws outlining unequal pay and sex discrimination
• changes in attitudes to family life and women’s roles
• easier access to divorce
• access to abortion and reliable contraception, giving women more control over their fertility
• according to harper, the education of women its the most important reason for the long term fall in birth and fertility rates. It has led to a change in mind set among women, resulting in fewer children. Not only are educated women more likely to use family planning, they now see other possibilities in life apart from the traditional role of housewife and mother. Many are choosing to delay childbearing, or not to have children at all, in order to pursue a career. E.g, in 2012, one in five women aged 45 was childless - double the number of 25 years earlier
• harper also notes that, once a pattern of low fertility lasts for more than one generation, cultural norms about family size change. Smaller families become the norm and large ones come to be seen as deviant or less acceptable

Question 7

2. Decline in the infant mortality rate (IMR)

Answer 7

• the IMR measures the number of infants who die before their first birthday, per thousand babies born alive, pre year
• harper argues that a fall in IMR leads to a fall in the birth rate. This is because, if many infants die, parents have more children to replace those they have lost, thereby increasing the birth rate. By contrast, if infants survive, parents will have fewer of them
• in 1900, the IMR for the uk was 154. In other words, over 15% of babies died within their first year. These figures are higher than those of less developed countries today. E.g, in 2014, the world’s highest estimated IMR was that of Afghanistan, at 117.
• during the first half of the 20th century, the uks IMR began to fall. This was due to several reasons:
• improved housing and better sanitation, such as flush toilets and clean drinking water, reduced the infectious disease. Infants are much more susceptible to infection because of their less developed immune system
• better nutrition, including that of mothers
• better knowledge of hygiene, child health and welfare, often spread via women’s magazines
• a fall in the number of married women working may have improved their health and that of their babies
• improved services for mothers and children, such as postnatal clinics
• before the mid century, it is doubtful whether specifically medical factors had much effect on the IMR - although indirectly, the medical profession had a significant impact through its campaigns to improve public health measures
• however, from about 1950s, medical factors began to play a greater role. E.g, mass immunisation agagsint childhood diseases such as whooping cough, and later measles, the use of antibiotics to fight infection and improved midwifery and obstetric techniques, all contributed to a continuing fall in the IMR
• as a result of all the above developments, by 1950 the uks IMR had fallen to 30 and by 2012 it stood at 4 - barely one fortieth of its 1900 figure.
• however, while many sociologists claim that the falling IMR led to a fall in birth rates, brass and kabir argue that the trend to smaller families began not in rural areas, where the IMR first began to fall, but in urban areas, where the IMR remained higher for longer

Question 8

3. Children are now an economic liability

Answer 8

• until the late 19th century, children were economic assets to their parents because they could be sent to work from an early age to earn an income. However, since the late 19th century children have gradually become an economic liability
• laws - banning child labour, introducing compulsory schooling and raising the school leaving age mean that children remain economically dependent on their parents for longer and longer
• changing norms - about what children have a right to expect from their parents in material terms mean that the cost of brining up children has risen
• as a result of these financial pressures, parents now feel less able or willing than in the past to have a large family

Question 9

4. Child centredness

Answer 9

• the increasing child centredness both of the family and society as a whole means that childhood is now socially constructed as a uniquely important period in the individuals life. In terms of family size, this has encouraged a shift from ‘quantity’ to ‘quality’ - parents now have fewer children and lavish more attention and resources on these few

Question 10

Future trends in birth rates

Answer 10

• as a result of all of these factors, birth rates, fertility rates, and family sizes have fallen over the last century. However, as we saw earlier, there has been a slight increase in births since 2001.
• one reason for this is the increase in immigration because, on average, mothers from outside the uk have a higher fertility rate than those born outside the uk accounted for 25% of all births in 2011. However, the projection for the period up to 2041 expects the annual number of births to be fairly constant, at around 800,000 per year

Question 11

Effects of changes in fertility

Answer 11

• changers in the number of babies born affect serval aspects of society. These include the family, the dependency ratio, and public services and policies

Question 12

The family

Answer 12

• smaller families mean that women are more likely to be free to go out work, this creating the dual earner couple typical of many professional families. However, family size is only one factor here. E.g, better off couples may be able to have larger families and still afford childcare that allows them both to work full time

Question 13

The dependency ratio

Answer 13

• the dependency ratio is the relationship between the size of the working or productive part of the population and the size of the non working or dependent part of the population
• the earnings, savings and taxes of the working population must support the dependant population. Children make up a large part of the dependant population, so a fall in the number of children reduces the ‘burden of dependancy’ on the working population
• however, in the longer term, fewer babies being born will mean fewer young adults and a smaller working population and so the burden of dependency may begin to increase again
• vanishing children falling fertility rates mean fewer children. As a result, childhood may become a lonelier experience as fewer children will have siblings, and more childless adults may mean fewer voices speaking up in support of children interests. Conversely, fewer children could mean they will come to be more valued

Question 14

Public services and polices

Answer 14

• a lower birth rate has consequences for public services. E.g, fewer schools and maternity and child health services may be needed. It also affects the cost of maternity and paternity leave and the types of housing that need to be built. However, we should remember that many of these are political decisions. E.g, instead of reducing the number of schools, the government could decide to have smaller class sizes
• an ageing population - one effect of women having fewer babies is that the average age of the population is rising: there are more old people relative to young people. This ageing of the population has a number of important effects.

Question 15

Deaths

Answer 15

• the death rate is the number of deaths per thousand of the population per year. In 1900, the death rate stood at 19, whereas by 2012 it has more than halved, to 8.9
• the death rate has already begun falling from about 1970 and continued to do so until 1930. It rose slightly during the 1930s and 1940s - the period of the great economic depression, followed by ww2 - but since the 1950w it has declined slightly

Question 16

Reasons for the decline in the death rate

Answer 16

• there are several reason why the death rate declined during the 20th century.
• according to tranter, over three quarters of the decline in the death rate from about 1850 to 1970 was due to a fall in the number of deaths from infectious diseases such as measles, smallpox etc. deaths from infectious disease were commonest in the young and most of the decline in the death rate occurred among infants, children and young adults
• by the 19590s, so called ‘diseases of affluence’ such as heart disease and cancers had replaced infectious diseases as the main cause of death. These degenerative diseases affect the middle aged and the old more than the young
• there are several possible reasons for the decline in the deaths from infection. It is possible that the population began to develop some natural resistance or that some diseases became less powerful
• however, social factors probably had a much greater impact on infectious diseases. These include:
• improved nutrition
• medical improvement
• smoking and diet
• public health measure

Question 17

Improved nutrition

Answer 17

• McKeown argues that improved nutrition accounted for up to half the reduction in death rate, and was particularly important in reducing the number of deaths from TB. Better nutrition increased resistance to infection and increased the survival chances of those who did become infected
• however, McKeown does not explain why females, who receive smaller share of the family food supply, lived longer than males. Similarly, he fails to explain why deaths from some infectious diseases, such as measles, actually rose at a time of improving nutrition

Question 18

Medical improvements

Answer 18

• before the 1950s, despite some important innovations, medical improvements played almost no part in the reduction of deaths from infectious disease
• however, after the 1950s, improved medical knowledge, techniques and organisation did help to reduce death rates. Advances included the introduction of antibiotics, immunisation, blood transfusion, improved maternity services as well as as the setting up of the national health service in 1948. More recently, improved medication, by pass surgery and other developments have reduced deaths from heart disease by one third

Question 19

Smoking and diet

Answer 19

• according to harper, the greatest fall in death rates in recent decades has come from medical improvements, but simply from a reduction in the number of people smoking. However, in the 21st century, obesity has replaced smoking as the new lifestyle epidemic. E.g, in 2012, one quarter of all uk adults were obese
• yet, although obesity has increase dramatically, deaths from obesity have kept low as a result of drug therapies. Harper suggests that we may be moving to an ‘American’ health culture when lifestyles are unhealthy but where a long lifespan is achieved by use of costly medication

Question 20

Public health measures

Answer 20

• in the 20th century, more effective central and local government with the necessary power to pass and enforce laws led to a range of improvements in public health and the quality of the environment
• these included improvements in housing, purer drinking water, laws to combat the adulteration of food and drink, the pasteurisation of milk, and improved sewage disposal methods. Similarly, the clean air acts reduced air pollution, such as the smog that led to 4,000 deaths in five days in 1952

Question 21

Other social changes

Answer 21

• other social changes also played a part in reducing the death rate during the 20th century. These included:
• the decline of dangerous manual occupations such as mining
• smaller families reduced the rate of transmission of infection
• greater public knowledge of the causes of illness
• lifestyle changes, especially the reduction in the number of men who smoke
• higher incomes, allowing for a healthier lifestyle

Question 22

Life expectancy

Answer 22

• life expectancy refers to how long on average a person born in a given year can expect to live. As death rates have fallen, so life expectancy has increased. E.g,:
• males borne in England 1900 could expect on average to live until they were 50 (57 for females)
• males born in England in 2013 can expect to live for 90.7 years (94 for females)
• over the past two centuries, life expectancy has increased by about two years per decade
• one reasons for lower average life expectancy in 1900 was the fact that so many infants and children did not survive beyond the early years of life. To put the improvement in life expectancy into perspective, we can note that a newborn baby has a better chance of reaching its 65th birthday than a baby born in 1900 had of reaching its 1st birthday
• if the trend to greater longevity continues, harper predicts that we will soon achieve ‘radical longevity’, with many more centenarians (people aged over 100). Currently there are about 10,000 in the uk; by 2100 there are projected to be one million

Question 23

Class, gender and regional differences

Answer 23

• despite the overall reduction in the death rate and the increase in life expectancy over the last 100 years, there are still important class, gender and regional difference. E.g, women generally live longer than men - although the gap has narrowed due to changes in employment and in lifestyle
• similarly, those living in the north and Scotland have a lower life expectancy than those living in the south, while w/c men in unskilled or routined jobs are nearly three times as likely to die before they are 65 compared with men in managerial or professional jobs
• according to walker, those living in the protest areas of England die on average seven years earlier than those in the richest areas, wheel the average difference in disability free life expectancy is 17 years

Question 24

The ageing population

Answer 24

• the average age of the uk population is rising. In 1971 it was 34.1 years. By 2013, it stood at 40.3 by 2037, it is predicted to reach 42.8. There are fewer younger people and more old people. The number aged 65 or over equalled the number of under 15s for three first time ever in 2014
• another way of illustrating the changing age profile of the population is by means of ‘age pyramid’s’. These show how older age groups are growing as a proportion of the population, while younger groups are shrinking. In fact, as Hirsch notes, the traditional age ‘pyramid’ is disappearing and being replaced by more or less equal sized ‘blocks’ representing the different age groups. E.g, by 2041, there will be as many 78 year olds as five year olds
• the ageing population is caused by three factors:
  1. Increasing life expectancy - people are living longer into old age
  2. Declining infant mortality - so that nowadays hardly anyone dies early in life
  3. Declining fertility - fewer young people are being born in relation to the number of older people in the population

Question 25

Effects of an ageing population

Answer 25

• we have already examined the reasons for changes in life expectancy, infant mortality and fertility that are causing an ageing population.

Question 26

Public services

Answer 26

• older people consume a larger proportion of services such as health and social care than other age groups. This is particularly true of the ‘old old’ as against the ‘young old’. However, we should beware of over generalising, since many people remain in relatively good health well into old age
• in addition to increased expenditure on heath care, an ageing population may also mean changes to policies and provisions of housing, transport or other services

Question 27

One person pensioner households

Answer 27

• the number of pensioners living alone has increased and one person pensioner households now account for about 12.5% or 1 in 8 of all households. Most of these are female, both because women generally live longer than men, and because they are usually young than their husbands
• among the over 75s, there are twice as many women as men this been described as the ‘feminisation of later life’

Question 28

The dependency ratio

Answer 28

• like the non working young, the non working old are an economically dependent group who need to be provided for by those of working age, e.g, through taxation to pay for pensions and health care
• as the number of retired people rises, this increases the dependency ratio and the burden on the working population. In 2015, there was 3.2 people of working age for every one pensioner. Those ratio is predicted to fall to 2.8 to one by 2033
• however, it would be wrong to assume that ‘old’ necessarily equals ‘economically dependent’. E.g, the age at which people can draw their pension is rising - from 2020 both men and women will have to wait until they are 66 to access the state pension, rising to 67 from 2026
• also, while an increase in the number of old people realises the dependency ratio, in an ageing population this is offset by a declining number of dependent children

Question 29

Ageism, modernity and postmodernity

Answer 29

• one consequence of the ageing population in modern society is the growth of ageism - the negative stereotyping and unequal treatment of people on the basis of their age. Ageism towards older people shoes itself in many ways, such as discrimination in employment and inequality treatment in health care. Similarly, much of the discourse about old age and ageing has been constructed as a ‘problem’ e.g, in terms of the cost of pensions or health care for the old

Question 30

Modern society and old age

Answer 30

• many sociologist argue that ageism is the result of ‘structured dependency’. The old are largely excluded from paid work, leaving them economically dependent on their families or the state. In modern society, our identity and status are largely determined by our role in production. Those excluded from production by compulsory retirement have a dependent status and stigmatised identity
• similarly, from a Marxists perspective, phillipson argues that the old are of no use to capitalism because they are in longer productive. As a result, the state is unwilling to support them adequately and so the family, especially the female relatives, often has to tale responsibility for their care
• in modern society, life is structured into a fixed series of stages, such as childhood, youth and so on. Age becomes important in role allocation, creating fixed life stages and age related identities, such as worker or pensioner. The old are thus excluded from a role in the labour force and made dependant and powerless

Question 31

Postmodern society and old age

Answer 31

• postmodernist sociologist argue that in todays postmodern society, the fixed, orderly stage of the life course have broken down. E.g, trends such as children dressing in adult styles, later marriages and early retirement all begin to blur the boundaries between the life stages. This gives individuals a greater choice of lifestyle, whatever their age.
• unlike in modern society, consumption, not production, becomes the key to our identities. We can now define ourselves by what we consume. As hunt argues, this means we can choose a lifestyle and identity regardless of age: our age no longer determines who we are or how we live
• as a result, the old become a market for a vast range of ‘body maintenance’ or ‘rejuvenation’ goods and services through which they can create their identities. These include cosmetic survey, exercise equipment, gym memberships and anti ageing products
• these trends begin to break down the ageist stereotypes found in modern society. Two other features of postmodern society also undermine old age as a stigmatised life stage:
• the certainty of the media - media images now portray positive aspects of the lifestyles of the elderly
• the emphasis on surface features - the body becomes a surface on which we can write identities. Anti ageing products enable the old to wrote different identities for themselves

Question 32

Inequality among the old

Answer 32

• however, while the orderly stages of the life course may have broken down somewhat, pilcher argues that inequalities such as class and gender remain important. Many of these are related to the individuals previous occupational positions
• class - the middle class have better occupational pensions and greater savings from higher salaries. Poorer old people have a shorter life expectancy and suffer more infirmity
• gender - womens lower earnings and career breaks as careers mean lower pensions. They are also subject to sexist as well as ageist stereotyping, e.g, being described as ‘old hags’
• postmodernist understate the importance of such inequalities. These are related to the structure of wider societies and they play a major part in shaping the experience of old age, often restricting the freedom of the elderly to choose an identity through consumption. Older people also face discrimination that limits their choices: age concern found more people reported suffering age discrimination than any other form

Question 33

Policy implications

Answer 33

• hirsch argues that a number of important social policies will need to change to tackle the new problems posed by an ageing population. The main problem will be how to finance a longer period of old age. This can be done by paying more from our savings and taxes while we are working, or by working longer, or both
• similarly, housing policy may need to change to encourage older people to ‘trade down’ into smaller accommodation. Those would release wealth to improve their standard of living and free up housing for younger people
• as hirsch recognises, these policy changes also require a cultural change in our attitudes towards old age. His view illustrates the notion that old age is a social construct- not a fixed, purely biological fact, but something shaped and defined by society. E.g, in an ageing society, our idea of how old is old enough to retire may change

Question 34

Migration

Answer 34

• in addition to natural change, the other factor affecting the size and age of the population is migration. Migration refers to the movement of people from place to place. It can be internal, within a society or international.
• immigration - refers to movement into a society
• emigration - refers to movement out
• net migration - is the difference between the numbers of immigrants and the number of emigrants, and is expressed as a net increase or net decrease due to migration
• in the uk, for most of the 20th century until the 1980s, there were fewer immigrants than emigrants

Question 35

Immigration

Answer 35

• from 1900 until the Second World War, the largest immigrant group were the Irish, mainly for economic reasons, followed by eastern and Central European Jews, who were often refugees fleeing persecution, and people of British descent from Canada and the USA. Very few immigrants were non white
• by contrast, during the 1950s, black immigrants from the Caribbean began to arrive in the uk, followed during the 1960s, and 1970s by south Asian immigrants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and by East African Asians from Kenya and Uganda
• one consequence is more ethnically diverse society. By 2011, ethnic minority groups accounted for 14% of the population. One result has been a greater diversity of family patterns
• however, as previously, more people left the uk than entered and most immigrants where white.
• despite this, however, a series of immigration and nationality acts from 1962 to 1990 placed severe restrictions on non white immigration. By the 1980s, non whites accounted for little more than a quarter of all immigrants, while the mainly white countries of the European Union became the main source of settlers in the uk

Question 36

Emigration

Answer 36

• from as early as the mid 16th century until thwarted 1980s, the uk was almost always a net exporter of people: more emigrated to live elsewhere than came to settle in the uk. Since 1900, emigrants have gibe to the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa
• the main reasons for emigration have been economic:
• ‘push’ factors - such as economic recession and unemployment at home
• ‘pull’ factors - such as higher wages or better opportunity abroad
• these economic reasons for migration contrast with those of some other groups, who have been driven to migrate by religious, political or racial persecution

Question 37

The impact of migration on uk population structure

Answer 37

• recent years have seen an increase in both immigration and emigration. These trends affect the size of the uk population, its age structure and the dependency ratio
• population size - the uk population is currently growing, partly as a result of immigration:
• net migration is high with more immigrants than emigrants. 47% of the immigrants were non eu citizens, 38% were eu citizens and 14% were British citizens returning to the uk
• there is also a natural increase, with births exceeding deaths. However, births to uk born mothers remain low. Births to non uk borne mothers are higher and account for about 25% of all births, but even with these, births remain below the replacement level of 2.1 per women. If one for net migration, therefore, the uks population would be shrinking

Question 38

Indirect and direct effects

Answer 38

• age structure immigration lowers the average age of the population both directly and indirectly:
• directly, immigrants are generally young. E.g, in 2011, the average age of uk passport holders was 41, whereas that of non uk passport holders living in Britain was 31
• indirectly - being young, immigrants are more fertile and thus produce more babies
• the dependency ratio - immigration has three effects
• immigrants are more likely to be of working age and this helps to lower the dependency ratio. In addition, many older migrants return to their country of origin to retire
• however, because they are younger, immigrants have more children, thereby increasing the ratio. Over time, however, these children will join the labour force and help to lower the ratio once again
• Finally, the longer a group is settled in the country, the closer their fertility rate comes to the national average, reducing their overall impact on the dependency ratio

Question 39

Globalisation and migration

Answer 39

• ‘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 system and global media, the creation of global markets, the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the expansion of the European Union
• many see globalisation as producing rapid social changes. One such change is increased international migration- the movement of people across boarders. We can identify several trends in global migration

Question 40

Acceleration

Answer 40

• there has been a speeding up of the rate of migration. E.g, according to the United Nations, between 2000 And 2013 international migration increases by 33%, to reach 232 million or 3.2% of the world’s population. In the same year, 862,000 people either entered or left the uk

Question 41

Differentiation

Answer 41

• there are many types of migrant. These include permanent settlers, temporary workers, spouses, and forced migrants such as refugees and asylum seekers. Some may have legal entitlement while others enter without permission. Globalisation is increasing the diversity of types of migrant. E.g, students are now a major group of migrants; in the uk in 201, there were more Chinese born than uk born post graduates
• before the 1990s, immigration to the uk came from a fairly narrow range of former British colonies. Moist of these migrants had the right to settle and become citizens. They formed a small number of stable, geographically concentrated and homogeneous ethnic communities

Question 42

Super diversity

Answer 42

• super diversity however, since the 1990s globalisation has led to what vertovec class ‘super diversity’. Migrants now come from a much wider range of countries. Of their legal status; e.g, as citizen or spouses. A given ethnic group may also be divided by culture or religion and be widely dispersed throughout the uk
• there are also class differences among migrants. E.g, cohen distinguishes three types of migrant:
• citizens - which full citizenship rights. Since the 1970s, the uk state has made it harder for immigrants to acquire these rights
• denizens are privileged foreign nationals welcomed by the state, e.g, billionaire ‘oligarchs’ or highly paid employees of multinational companies
• helots (literally slaves) - are the most exploited group. States and employers regard them as ‘disposable’ units of labour power, a reserve army of labour. They are found in unskilled, poorly paid work and include illegally trafficked workers, and those legally tied to particular employers, such as domestic servants

Question 43

The feminisation of migration

Answer 43

• in the past, most migrants were men. Today, however, almost half of all global migrants are female. This has been called the globalisation of the gender division of labour, where female migrants find that they are fitted into patriarchal stereotypes about women roles as carers or providers of sexual services

Question 44

The feminisation of migration - ehrenreich and hochschild

Answer 44

• ehernereich and hochschild observe that care work, domestic work and sex work in western countries like the uk and USA is increasingly done by women from poor counties. This is a result of serval trends:
  1. The expansion of service occupations in western countries has led to an increasing demand for female labour
  2. Western women have joined the labour force and are less willing or able to perform domestic labour
  3. Western men remain unwilling to perform domestic childcare
  4. The failure of the state to provide adequate childcare
• the resulting gap has been partly filled by women from poor countries. E.g, shutes reports that 40% of adult care nurses in the uk are migrants. Most of these are female
• there is also a global transfer of women emotional labour. E.g, migrant Nannie’s provide care and affection for their employers children at the expense of their own children left behind in their home country
• migrant women also enter western countries as ‘mail order’ brides. This often reflects gendered and racialised stereotypes, e.g, of oriental women as subservient . Women, often kept in conditions amounting to slavery

Question 45

Migrant identities

Answer 45

• we all have multiple sources of identity: family, friends, neighbourhood, ethnicity, religion, nationality and so on all give us a sense of belonging and of who we are. For migrants and their descendants, their country of origin may provide an additional or alternative source of identity
• e.g, migrants may develop hydrid identities made up of two or more different sources. Eade found that second generation Bangladeshi Muslims in Britain created hierarchal identities: they saw themselves as Muslim first, then Bengali, then British. Those with hybrid identities may find that others challenge their identity claims or accuse them of not ‘fitting in’

Question 46

Transnational identities

Answer 46

• according to eriksen, globalisation has created more diverse migration patterns, with back and fourth movements of people through networks rather than permanent settlement in another country
• as a result, migrants are less likely to see themselves as belonging completely to one culture or country. Instead, they may develop transnational ‘neither/nor’ identities and loyalties. Modern technology also makes it possible to sustain global ties without having to travel
• the globalised economy means that migrants may have more links to other migrants around the world than to either their country of origin or of settlement
• e.g, eriksen describes Chinese migrants in Rome who found mandarin more useful for everyday life than Italian