Demography Flashcards
What is demography?
The study of population changes which are caused by birth rates, death rates and migration.
Birth rate
The number of live births per 1000 people per year.
Trends:
birth rates are decreasing.
However, there have been baby booms – post WW1 and WW2 and in the 1960s.
Reasons for decrease in birth rate
- Changes in the position of women – increased equality w/men, employment opportunities, changes in social attitudes to divorce, abortion and contraception. So women can choose if and when to have children.
Harper: education = main factor as educated women who prioritise their careers, are more likely to use contraception and choose childlessness. This is changing social attitudes as smaller families are becoming the norm.
- Decline in infant mortality rate - due to; improved housing and sanitation, better nutrition, better knowledge of hygiene, introduction of medical services such as postnatal clinics, immunisation, antibiotics.
This is causing the fall in the birth rate as people know the children they have will survive. - Children are an economic liability – until the 19th century children were an economic asset – they worked and contributed financially to family income. Then, laws were introduced banning children from working and introducing compulsory education.
There was also a change in social attitudes and norms whereby parents are responsible for their children.
As a result, parents feel less willing to have many children. - Child centeredness – family and society have become child centred. ‘Quality not quantity’ – families have fewer children, but give them more attention and resources.
Consequences of falling birth rate
- Smaller families – as fewer babies are born. Some argue this will cause more isolated and lonely children as many are now growing up without siblings and neighbourhoods with no other children to play with. However, this can also lead to children being more valued.
- Dual worker families – women are free to work as they have fewer children to take care of.
- Improvement in the dependency ratio – is the relationship between the size of the working and non-working population whereby the working population supports the non-working population (children, pensioners, unemployed) through taxation. The fall in birth rate reduces the non-working population.
- Lessened pressure on public services – fewer schools and children’s hospitals are needed.
- Ageing population – more older people and fewer young people in society.
Total fertility rate, family size and the age at which women have their first child
Total fertility rate – average number of children a woman has during her fertile years.
Family size – average number of children per household.
Trends:
total fertility rate and family size are decreasing.
Age at which women have their first child:
1970 – mid 20s
today - 30s
Therefore, the age at which women have their first child is increasing.
Reasons for the decrease in family size and total fertility rate
- Decline in the infant mortality rate – more children survive into adulthood so people don’t have to have many children as those they do have will live.
- Invention of reliable contraception – allows women to control how many children they have.
- Child-centeredness – people want to have fewer children so they can provide them with everything they need and can spend more time with them.
- Women are having children later, leaving less time for large families as their education and careers become more important.
- The impact of Feminism - changed women’s ambitions.
- Increased career opportunities for women so they now want to work rather than get married and have children.
Death rate and infant mortality rate
Death rate - number of deaths per 1000 people per year.
Infant mortality rate – is the number of babies who die before their 1st birthday, per 1000 live births, per year.
Trends:
- both are decreasing
Ageing population and life expectancy
Ageing population refers to a society which has more older people and fewer young people. It is caused by an increase in life expectancy, declining infant mortality and declining fertility.
Life expectancy refers to the average age a person is likely to live until.
- increasing
However, there are differences based on: Class – middle class members live longer Gender – women live longer Regional – People in the south of the UK live longer
Reasons for the decrease in death rate, infant mortality rate, increase in life expectancy and ageing population
Improved nutrition – McKeowan – halved death rates, particularly from TB as it increases resistance to infection and survival rates.
However, women tend to receive less nutrition, yet live longer. McKeowan fails to explain this.
Medical improvements – since the 1950s antibiotics, immunisation, blood transfusion, higher standards of care, introduction of the NHS have all contributed to decrease in the death rate.
Smoking and diet – there is now greater awareness of the dangers of smoking and unhealthy diet as a result of government campaigns and new laws (banning smoking in public places and ban on cigarette advertising).
However, Harper argue we eat unhealthily, but stay alive as a result of expensive medical care.
Public health measures – improvements in housing, drinking water, sewage, air pollution as a result of government action.
Other social changes – decline in dangerous occupations such as mining, increased knowledge on how to decrease the spread of infections, higher incomes allowing for healthier lifestyles.
Consequences of the fall in the death rate
Increased burden on public services, e.g. healthcare – more hospitals are needed.
Increase in the number of people living alone (14% of all households), especially elderly women.
Increased dependency ratio - non-working elderly are a burden on the working population – pensions and healthcare.
However, when they were younger and they worked, they made a contribution to society and took care of the dependant population so now it is our turn to take care of them.
Hirsch argues there is a need for a change in policy – the government needs to decide if people will have to start paying more in taxes or work for longer.
Ageism – negative stereotypes and discrimination against people based on their age. Elderly are seen as a burden because they no longer work.
Help for family members – ‘bank of mum and dad’, advice, support for the boomerang generation, babysitting the grandchildren.
‘Grey pound’ – many elderly people are fit and healthy as well as financially stable (private pensions and savings) so they can pursue hobbies thus contributing to the economy.
Postmodernists argue that the older generations are a market for body maintenance products such as cosmetic surgery, anti-ageing products, gyms, etc.
Migration
Immigration – movement into a country. Immigration into the UK: 1900 – 1945 – Irish and European Jews. 1950s – Caribbean – economic reasons. 1960s & 1970s – Asian and African. 2000s – white EU.
Emigration – movement out.
Mid-16th century – 1980s – economic push and pull factors encouraged Brits to leave the UK for the colonies around the world. More recently, Brits have been moving to the EU countries.
Net migration – difference between the number of immigrants and emigrants.
Reasons for migration
Pull and push factors:
1900 – 1945 – Irish and European Jews – economic and political reasons such as discrimination in Europe.
1950s – Caribbean – economic reasons.
1960s & 1970s – Asian and African – economic, political and environmental reasons.
2000s – white EU – political and economic reasons.
However, since the 1960s the government has passed several laws restricting the immigration of non-white people into the UK.
Globalisation - refers to increasing interconnectedness of the world caused by technological advances (travel, digital media), economic and political cooperation between countries.
It is said that globalisation has:
- Accelerated (increased) international migration.
- Differentiation - created different types of migrants – permanent settlers, temporary workers, students, refugees and asylum seekers. Some have the legal entitlement to migrate, others do not have the permission to enter a country. According to Vertovec, this has created super-diversity whereby migrants are different by their legal status, country of origin, reason for their migration.
- Cohen argues that class also affects the lives of migrants. Some are citizens (full legal rights as the people born in the country), denizens (privileged foreign nationals welcomed by the state, e.g. Russian oligarchs), helots (illegally trafficked workers).
- Feminisation of migration – in the past, migrants tended to be men, today it is mostly women. This is because they tend to fill the low paid jobs in their host countries such as cleaners, care workers, etc.
- Migrant identities – when migrants identify with their country of origin more than with the culture of their new country.
- Transnational identities - migrants tend to develop a hybrid identity – a sense of self which is a mix of their original culture and their new host culture.
Politicisation – migration has become an important political issue. States now have laws to limit immigration, absorb migrants into society and deal with cultural diversity as well as reduce terrorism.
Different governments have favoured a different approach to migration:
- assimilation (encouraging immigrants to adapt to the new norms and values),
- multiculturalism (accepts that migrants want to keep some aspects of their own culture). However, it is criticised for only really accepting shallow diversity such as food, while rejecting other aspects of migrants’ cultures such as veiling of women. Since the terror attacks, there has been a shift back to assimilation policies. Castels says that this marks migrants as the Other – a group different, and inferior, to the majority.
Consequences of migration
- Culturally a more diverse society, e.g. impact on family structures.
- population – more people come to the UK than leave it, immigrants have higher fertility rates.
- More people of working age – people who come to the UK tend to be younger and so work and contribute to society. This is slowing down the negative dependency ratio.
