Demography & Family

Question 1

Causes for decline in Birth and Fertility rates

Answer 1

• Decline in IMR - no need to have many children due to risk of death
• Genderquake - more prioritise career over having kids young
• Contraception - more control over pregnancy
• Commercialisation of childhood - avg. cost of raising a child to 21 in UK is £227K
• Materialism and consumerism - people want to buy designer items for their children
• People stay younger for longer - having children later in life

Question 2

Reasons for fall in Death rate and rise in Life expectancy across 20th C

Answer 2

• Rising wages/living standards
• 19th C public health policy - clean water and sewage systems helped reduce spread of diseases (eg. Cholera)
• Social Housing for the poor - council flats and homes with good ventilation contributed to the near eradication of tuberculosis
• Maternity Care improvements - health visitors to help mothers
• Welfare State post-WWII - poorer people provided with range of social and economic services and supports
• NHS in 1948 - Nationwide vaccinations, advances in medicine, preventative health campaigns

Question 3

Consequences of an ageing population

Answer 3

• More extended families in same household - common in British Asian community
• More Beanpole families (less horizontal, more vertical)
• Grandparenting saves childcare costs
• Feminists - women more likely to look after elderly relatives, which means they often give up jobs to do so
• Brannen - Pivot generation between elderly and children in the beanpole have to care for both - can be damaging on wellbeing
• Hirsch - ageing population will have to be paid for in social care and increased funding in health services

Question 4

Globalisation

Answer 4

Mass migration, communications, internet, and awareness of other cultures means we now live in a more globalised age - with cheap and safe air transport and more porous borders, migration is much easier

Question 5

Push Factors

Answer 5

• Fleeing persecution
• Torture
• Religious Repression
• War
• Poverty

Question 6

Pull Factors

Answer 6

• Job opportunities
• Education
• Joining partners, friends, family

Question 7

2011 Census - UK ethnic diversity Statistics

Answer 7

• Majority of population was white (86%), but only 80% born in UK
• Asian (Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi) = 8.6%
• Black (Caribbean and African) = 3.4%
• Chinese = 0.7%
• Arab = 0.4%
• Other = 0.6%
• 2.2% are mixed-race = fastest growing ethnic group