Demography - Births

Question 1

define the birth rate

Answer 1

the number of live births per thousand of the population per year

Question 2

since 1990 there has been a … in the birth rate

Answer 2

long-term decline in the number of births

Question 3

what is it called when there is a fluctuation in the births per year?

Answer 3

baby boom

Question 4

what are the two factors determining the birth rate

Answer 4

• the proportion of women who are of childbearing age
• how fertile they are

Question 5

what is the total fertility rate meaning (TFR)

Answer 5

the average number of children women will have during their fertile years

Question 6

what do the changes in fertility and birth rates reflect?

Answer 6

• more women are remaining childless than in the past
• women are postponing having children, average age for women have children has changed. older women may be less fertile and have fewer fertile years remaining, and so they produce fewer children.

Question 7

Identify some of the reasons according to sociologists for the long-term decline in the birth rate since 1990

Answer 7

social
economic
cultural
legal
political
technological

Question 8

Name four of the main reasons for the decline in the birth rate

Answer 8

• change in women’s position
• decline in the infant mortality rate
• children are now an economic liability
• childcenterdness

Question 9

Explain the major changes in the position of women during the 20th century

Answer 9

• legal equality with men
• increased educational opportunities
• more paid women in employment
• changes in attitudes to family life and women’s roles
• easier access to divorce
• access to abortion and reliable contraception

Question 10

According to Harper what is the most important reason for the long-term fall in birth and fertility rates

Answer 10

the education for women is the most important reason for the long-term fall in birth and fertility rates in the 20th century.

Question 11

What changes occurred amongst women

Answer 11

the fall in birth and fertility rates led to a change in mind-set amongst women, which resulted in fewer children.

not only are educated women more likely to use family planning, but they now see other possibilities in life apart from the maternal role/ trad housewife.

many choosing to delay childbearing, or not have them at all to persue a career.

Question 12

Harper also notes..

Answer 12

once a pattern of low fertility lasts for more than one generation, cultural norms about family size change.

Question 13

Define the infant mortality rate (IMR)

Answer 13

measures the number of infants who die before their first birthday, per thousand babies born alive, per year.

Question 14

What does Harper argue about the IMR

Answer 14

harper argues that a fall in the 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.

Question 15

State the several reasons why the IMR in the UK began to fall in the 20th Century

Answer 15

• improved housing and better sanitation e.g flush toilets and clean drinking water
• better nutrition
• better knowledge of hygiene , such as child health and welfare
• a fall in the number of married women working, may improve the health of women and babies
• improved services for mothers and children, eg postnatal clinics

Question 16

what did Brass and Kabir argue on the subject of the IMR

Answer 16

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 17

why did children become economic assets to their parents and what is the change now

Answer 17

In the late 19th century, children were economic assets to their parents because they could be sent out to work from an early age to earn an income.

however, since the late 19th century, children have gradually become an economic liability.

Question 18

why did laws have an impact on children’s economic status

Answer 18

laws banning child labour, and introducing compulsory schooling and raising the school leaving age means that children remain economically dependent on their parents for a longer time

Question 19

why did changing norms have an impact on children’s economic status and what is the result of the economic change

Answer 19

changing norms about what children have a right to expect from their parents in material terms mean that the cost of bringing up children has risen.

as a result of this financial pressures, parents now feel less able or willing than in the past to have a large family.

Question 20

what is the impact of child centredness and how has it impacted family size

Answer 20

childhood is now socially constructed as a uniquely important period in the individual’s life.

in terms of family size, it has encouraged a shift from ‘quantity’ to ‘quality’ - parents now have fewer children and lavish more attention and resources on the few

Question 21

what are some of the affects that the changes in the number of babies born affects in society

Answer 21

the family
the dependency ratio
public services and policies

Question 22

what are the effects of the number of births have on the family, provide a however and an example

Answer 22

smaller families means that women are more likely to be free to go out to work, creating a dual earner couples.

BUT - family size is only one factor

for example - better off couples may be able to have a larger family and still afford childcare that allows them both to work full-time

Question 23

what is the dependency ratio

Answer 23

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

Question 24

what must support the dependent population

Answer 24

the earnings, savings and taxes of the working population must support the dependent population.

Question 25

what would happen to the working population if the number of children reduced

Answer 25

a fall in the number of children reduces the ‘burden of dependency’ on the working population.

Question 26

what would be the long term effect of fewer babies being born

Answer 26

in the long 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

Question 27

what is the idea of vanishing children

Answer 27

falling fertility rates mean fewer children

resulting in childhood potentially becoming a lonelier experience as fewer children will have siblings

but… fewer children could mean they will come to be more valued.

Question 28

what are the consequences of a lower birth rate for public services.

Answer 28

fewer schools, maternity and child health services may be needed

affects the costs of maternity and paternity leave and the types of housing that need to be built.

Question 29

when thinking about public services and the effects of the falling birth rate what should we remember, provide eg

Answer 29

that many of these things are political decisions , for example instead of reducing the number of schools, the government could decide to have smaller class sizes.

Question 30

explain the ageing population

Answer 30

one effect of women having fewer children is the average age of the population is rising. meaning that there are more old people relative to young people.