Demography Flashcards
What does demography mean?
study of human populations, in particular their size & composition and how they change through fertility, migration, aging & mortality
Key Statistics on the Family
- nuclear families made up 38% in 1961 & 18% in 2021
- Marriages: 1970s= 400,000 & 2023= 207,000
- Divorces: 1961= 30,000 & 2023= 103,000
- Lone parent families make up 15% of families (higher % in North East)
- Single Person Households: 1970= 17% & 2021 in London = 26% (Scotland higher)
What has happened to the birth rate in the last 50-100 years?
+ statistic?
general decline but has had peaks & troughs
+ Average number of children born to a fertile female:
1900= 3.5
2000=1.64
2024= 1.44
8 main causes for the changes to families
+ how they have had an effect?
1) Secularisation: weakening of traditional religious belief
2) Relativism: different types of people are entitled to lead different lifestyles
3) Individualism: people encouraged to seek personal happiness
4) Globalisation: increased immigration bringing family patterns & moral attitudes
5) Demographic changes
6) Extended education: prolongs young people’s financial dependence on parents
7) Liberation movements: campaigns for enhanced rights & dignity
8) Advancements in medicine: has led to increased life expectancy & reduced births
What effects have the first 4 causes for the changes to families had on family diversity?
1) Secularisation has led to more cohabitation, smaller family sizes and singler person households
2) Relativism has led to more same-sex parent families and less traditional family types
3) Individualism has led to people prioritising their own happiness through pure relationships & lone parents families
4) Globalisation has led to a younger population, larger family sizes & decreased dependency’ ratio
What effects have the last 4 causes for the changes to families had on family diversity?
5) Demographic changes have led t smaller family sizes, boomerang kids & more lone person households
6) Extended education has led to boomerang kids & possibly smaller family sizes
7) Liberation movements have led to same-sex parent families, neo-nuclear families and smaller family sizes
8) Medical advancements have increased smaller family sizes (due to falling infant mortality rate) & single person households
What do Balbo, Billari & Mills say about the decline in fertility rate?
+ evidence
- due to contraception, economic & cultural factors
- contraception was available on NHS from 1961 but only for ,married women & only in 1974 could be prescribed for single women
- range of available contraceptives has expanded providing more ways to control
What do Buchanan & Rotkirch say about the decline in fertility rate?
+ evidence
+ woman’s worth now judged on factors other than having children
+ strong relationship between female employment & fertility rates (e.g post WW2)
+ women have less kids due to higher education and career opportunities
+ more cautious of cost of raising child
+ no greater child-centredness
What does McKeown say about the declining death rate?
+ evidence
- due to improvements in nutrition and hygiene more than medical advancements
- diseases such as TB and polio started to steeply improve before immunisations were improved
- hygiene & nutrition improvements accounted for 20% of long term fall in death rate
What does Marmot say about the declining death rate?
+ strong relationship between deprivation, social class & mortality
+ improving housing & educational opportunities have had a greater impact on death rates
Main immigration movements to the UK and the periods of time
- Pre WW1 (Ireland)
- 1930s (Europe- fleeing persecution and war)
- Post WW2 (commonwealth e.g Pakistan & India)
- 1950s & 60s (Windrush from Caribbean)
- Post 1990s (European Union - automatic right to move & work)
- Recently (Afghanistan, Syria & Ukraine- escaping war & persecution)
1) When was there particular political opposition to immigration?
2) Pull factors of the UK?
3) What do Raghuram & Erel see as important relating to immigration?
1) During Brexit vote in 2016
2) + high wages
+ low unemployment
3) social networks as these make it easier for people to move and become established in a new place of residence
Effects of immigration on the UK’s society?
+ increased population size
+ now multicultural society
+ lowered average age
+ decreased dependency ratio
+ aided economic growth
+ hostility and racial prejudice
Immigration statistics
- 600,000 net positive migration to the UK in 2023
- 1/2 of immigration in 2015 came from EU countries
- percentage on non-white residents in the Uk rose to 18% in 2021 from 14% in 2011 & 9% in 2001
