Demography

Question 1

What is the birth rate ?

Answer 1

Number of live births per thousand of the population

Question 2

What trend is there in birth rates ?

Answer 2

Long term decline since 1900 - 28.7 - 2014 - 12.2

Question 3

Why has there been fluctuations in the birth rate?

Answer 3

Baby boom - 2 after each world war- 1 in 1960

Birth rate fell sharply after 1960 baby boom, rose again in 1980’s before falling in 1990’s with a slight increase in 2001

Question 4

What factors determine the total fertility rate ?

Answer 4

Proportion of women who are child bearing age

How fertile they are

Question 5

What is the Total fertility rate?

Answer 5

Average number of children women will have during their fertile years

Question 6

What is the trend in total fertility rate?

Answer 6

Has risen in recent years but much lower than the past - reached an all time low in 2001 at 1.63 children per women
Has risen to 1.83 in 2004 however still low compared to the peak of 2.95 in 1964 (1960 baby boom)

Question 7

What changes do these statistics suggest (total fertility rate)?

Answer 7

More women are remaining childless

Women are postponing children (average age now 30) - older they are the less fertile

Question 8

What reasons are there for a decline in birth rate?

Answer 8

Changes in women’s position

Decline in IMR

Children becoming an economic liability

Child centeredness

Question 9

What changes have occurred for women? Explain how these changes in women’s position has caused a decline in birth rate?

Answer 9

Legal equality with men (voting
More women in paid employment
Change in attitudes
Easier Access to divorce
Access to abortion
Increased educational opportunities - led to a change in mindset - now using contraception, family planning and are choosing to avoid traditional housewife role , may now postpone children in order to pursue a career therefore have less children and have them later
Also noted when a pattern of low fertility lasts more than one generation it becomes the norm and large families become less acceptable

Question 10

How has a decline in IMR resulted in a decline in birth rate ?

Answer 10

Because less infants die there is less need to have a larger family- there can be emotional attachment

Question 11

What is IMR?

Answer 11

Infant mortality rate - number of infants who die before there 1st birthday per thousand babies born alive

Question 12

What is the trend in IMR?

Answer 12

1900 - U.K. IMR. Was 154 - 15% of babies died in their first year by the 1950s it had dropped to 30 and by 2012 it dropped to 4

Question 13

Why has IMR declined?

Answer 13

Improved housing and sanitation
Better nutrition
Better hygiene knowledge
Fall in number of married women working improved their health and their babies
Improved medical services for women - antenatal and postnatal

Question 14

How much impact has medical improvements had on IMR ?

Answer 14

From 1950’s plays a large role I.e. Mass immunization - whooping cough, measles. Use of antibiotics to fight infection and improved midwifery meant less babies die

Question 15

What criticisms are there of falling IMR?

Answer 15

IMR can not explain lowered birth rates as IMR dropped in rural areas whereas family size dropped in urban areas.

Question 16

How does children becoming economic liabilities explain a decline in birth rate?

Answer 16

Until late 19th century children were economic assets as they were sent out to work, law banning child Labour and introducing compulsory education developed children into economic liability, as children become economically dependent

These changing norms have meant children expect parents to provide in material terms and children cost more money
Because of this of this parents acre less likely to have a large family.

Question 17

How has child centeredness lead to a decline in birth rates?

Answer 17

Increasing child centeredness of both the family and society means childhood is socially constructed, it has encouraged a shift from quantity to quality , parents have fewer children and lavish more attention and resources on them

Question 18

What is life expectancy?

Answer 18

Refers to how long an average person born in a given year can expect to live

Question 19

What has happened as death rates have fallen?

Answer 19

Life expectancy has risen

Question 20

How has this increased life expectancy been evidenced?

Answer 20

Males born in 1900- could expect to live to 50
Women born in 1900 - could expect to live to 57

Males born in 2013 can expect to live to 90.7
Males born in 2013 can expect to live to 94

Question 21

How has life expectancy increased over the past 2 centuries ?

Answer 21

Increased about 2 years per decade

Question 22

What is a reason for lower average life expectancy in 1900 ?

Answer 22

So may infants and children did not survive belong early years of life , now a new born has a better chance of reaching 65th birthday than in the baby boom in 1900

Question 23

Explain the future trends in birth rates.

Answer 23

There has been a slight increase in births since 2001- this could be due to immigration increases, as mothers outside the UK have a higher fertility rate than those born in the UK. Babies from mothers born outside of the UK account for 25%of all babies - this means the projected number of births by 2041 expects to be constant at 800,000 a year

Question 24

What are the effects of changes in fertility?

Answer 24

The family size and employment
The dependency Ratio
Public services and policies are effected

Question 25

How are family size and employment effected by changes in fertility?

Answer 25

Smaller families mean women are more likely to be free to go out to work, thus creating dual earner families, however better off couples may still be able to have larger families due to being able to afford childcare allowing them both to work

Question 26

How is the dependency ratio effected by fertility changes?

Answer 26

Earnings, savings and taxes of 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 dependency - in the long term however fewer babies born means a smaller working population which may increase the burden of dependency

Question 27

What is the Dependency Ratio?

Answer 27

Relationship between the size of the working or productive part of the population and the size of the non working part of the population

Question 28

How are the public services and policies affected by a change in fertility?

Answer 28

A lower birth rate has consequences for public services such as schools, maternity and children’s health services as fewer are needed - it affects the cost of maternity and paternity leave
The population is ageing there is more old people relative to young and this may have repercussions

Question 29

What is the Death Rate ?

Answer 29

Number of deaths per thousand of the population per year

Question 30

What trends are there in death rates?

Answer 30

In 1900 stood at 19, by 2012 it had dropped to 8.9
Death rate fell between 1870 and 1930 - rose during recession and world war (1930’s and 40’s) but declined again after 1950

Question 31

What reasons are there for a decline in the death rate?

Answer 31

Decline in death from infectious disease due to 
Improved Nutrition
Medical Improvements
Smoking and diet
Public Health measures
Other social changes

Question 32

What does Tranter argue that over 3/4 of the decline in death rate was due to?

Answer 32

Fall in deaths from infectious diseases such as diphtheria, typhoid and TB. these commonly killed the young , most of the decline in death rates occurred in infants and young adults
These infectious diseases were replaced in the 1950’s by diseases of affluence such as heart disease and cancer

Question 33

How has improved nutrition lead to a decline in death rate?

Answer 33

Accounted for half of the reduction in death rates.

Better nutrition increased resistance to infection and increased survival chances for those infected.

Question 34

What criticisms are available of improved nutrition resulting in a decline in death rates?

Answer 34

Does not explain why females - who receive a smaller share of meals than men- live longer
Similarly this does not explain why some infectious diseases such as measles and infant diarrhoea actually rose at the time of improved nutrition

Question 35

How did medical improvements result in a decline in death rates?

Answer 35

before 1950’s had no effect on death rate
after 1950’s medical knowledge, techniques and organisation helped reduce death rates - antibiotics, immunisation and blood transfusions were developed alongside the NHS being set up - recently bypass surgery has helped reduce deaths from heart disease by 1/3

Question 36

How has smoking and diet helped to reduce the death rate?

Answer 36

A reduction in the number of people smoking has caused the greatest fall in death rates according to Harper, however in 2013 obesity has replaced smoking as anew lifestyle

Question 37

How has public health measures helped to reduce the death rate?

Answer 37

more effective central and local governments with necessary power to pass and enforce laws have led to a range of public health improvements such as housing improvements, pasteurisation of milk and clean air acts

Question 38

How have other social changes lead to a decline in the death rate?

Answer 38

Decline in dangerous manual occupations such as mining, smaller families has reduced infection transmission, greater public knowledge about causes of illness have helped to prevent them and lifestyle changes (due to income) have helped create healthier lifestyle (e.g. going to the gym)

Question 39

What class, gender and regional differences still exist within life expectancy?

Answer 39

Women generally live longer than men, although this gap has narrowed
Those living in the North and Scotland have lower life expectancies than those in the south
Working class men in unskilled or routine are nearly 3 times more likely to die before they are 65 compared to men in managerial role
Those living in the poorest areas of England die on average seven years earlier than those in the richest area

Average difference in disability free life expectancy is 17 years

Question 40

What can be said about the age of the population?

Answer 40

The average age is rising - in 1971 it was 34.1 by 2013 it stood at 40.3 , it is expected that in 2037 it will reach 42.8

There are now fewer young people and more old people - number of over 65 and over equaled the number of under 15’s

Question 41

What 3 factors have caused this ageing population?

Answer 41

Increasing life expectancy - living to older ages

Declining IMR - hardly anyone dies at an early age

Declining fertility - fewer young people are born in relation to the number of older people

Question 42

What effects are there of an ageing population ?

Answer 42

Public services are under greater demand

The number of one person pensioner households has risen

There’s more strain on the dependency ratio

Question 43

What effect has the ageing population had on public services?

Answer 43

Older people consume a larger proportion of services such as health and social care than other groups, especially the old old (over 75) - an increased expenditure in health care may also mean that changes to policies and housing are needed

Question 44

What effect has an ageing population had on one person pensioner households ?

Answer 44

The number of pensioners living alone has increased - they now account for 12.5%, most of these are female both because women generally live longer and they are usually younger than their husbands

Question 45

What effect has the ageing population on the dependency ratio ?

Answer 45

Non working old are economically dependent group, who need to be provided for by those of working age

As the number of retired people rises, the dependency ratio and the burden increases - in 2015 there were 3.2 of working age for every one pensioner this ratio is predicted to fall to 2.8 to 1 by 2033

Question 46

Why is it wrong to assume that ‘old’ necessarily equals economic dependence ?

Answer 46

Age at which a pension can be drawn is rising from 2020 men and women will ahem to wait till they are 66 - rising to 67 in 2025

While there is an increase in the number of old people the decline in dependent children equals this out

Question 47

What is migration ?

Answer 47

Immigration refers to movement into a society
Emigration refers to movement out
Net migration is the difference between the number of immigrant and emigrants and is expressed as a net increase or net decrease.

Question 48

In the 1900 who was the largest immigration group ?

Answer 48

Until the Second World War the largest immigrant group were the Irish, mainly for economic reasons, followed by eastern and Central European Jews - very few immigrants were non white

Question 49

What happened in the 1950’s with immigrant groups?

Answer 49

Black immigrants from the Caribbean began to arrive , followed by south Asian (India, Pakistani,Bangladeshi and Sri Lanka) in 1960/1970

Question 50

What is a consequence of a more ethnically diverse society?

Answer 50

By 2011 , ethnic minority groups accounted for 14% of the population. This has resulted in a greater diversity of family patterns

Question 51

What did a series of nationality acts from 1962 to 1990 do?

Answer 51

Placed severe restrictions on non white immigration, by 1980 non-white accounted for little more than a quarter of all immigrants

Question 52

What are the main reason for emigration?

Answer 52

Push factors - economic recession or unemployment at home

Pull factors - higher wages or better opportunities