demography review questions Flashcards
what is demography?
demography is the study of statistics such as births, deaths, income, or the incidence of disease which illustrate the changing structures of human populations
-the composition of a particular human population
what are the latest ONS stats on UK population trends/ predictions?
- UK population could reach 70 million by 2026
- reach 74 million by 2036
between 2021 and 2036:
-10.8 million born
-10.3 million die
-13.7 million immigrate long term
-7.6 million emigrate long term
how has the UK population changed in the last century?
-births fell in WW1
-births rise post war and in late 60s- wind rush generation
-overall births fell and deaths are meant to rise due to ageing population
what is birth rate?
-birth rate is the number of live births per thousand per year
-short term there have been 3 baby booms
-long term its falling
what is total fertility rate?
-total fertility rate is the average number of children have during their fertile years (15-44)
-short term it rose in 2014 to 1.83 compared to 1.63 in 2001
-long term its fallen greatly since 2.95 in 1964
what has caused changes in birth rate?
-legal equality with men of women
-increased education
-more women in payed employment
-changes in attitudes towards the family and women’s roles
-easier access to divorce
-access to abortion and reliable contraception
Harper says education of women is the most important reason for the declining birth rate long terms
how does fertility rate affect the family?
-smaller families means women are more likey to go out and work so more dual earner families
how does fertility affect the dependency ratio?
-fewer babies means less young adults working to support the dependants so the burden of dependency margin increases long term although short term less children less dependants
how does fertility affect public services and policies?
-lower birth rate means less schools and maternity and child health services needed.
-it affects the cost of maternity and paternity leave and types of houses needed to be built
-average age of population is rising
what is the death rate?
-death rate is the number of deaths per thousand of the population per year
-short term it can rise due to droughts pandemics ect
-it rose during the great economic depression
since 2011 to 2017 the death rate rose to 9.1
-in 2015 it reached 9.2
-long term falling due to better healthcare and conditions
what are reasons for the decline in death rate?
- Tranter- decline in infectious disease replaced by diseases of affluence
-Thomas McKeown- improved nutrition- evaluation: doesn’t explain why women live on average longer than men
-medical improvements
-Harper- smoking and diet
-public health measures
-decline of manual occupation
-smaller families decreases the rate of transmission
-better knowledge publicly of causes of diseases
-lifestyle changes
-higher incomes- allows healthier choices
how does life expectancy differ between different social groups?
-males in England in 2013 expect to live 79.1 years compared to women at 82.8 years
-a new born baby today has a better chance of reaching its 65th birthday than a baby born in 1900 had of reaching their third birthday
-wealthier people live longer because of better conditions
what stats show how the UK population is ageing?
-in 2022 19% of the UK population were over 65
-ONS projections show this to rise to 27% by 2027
-the average age of the population is rising from 34.1 in 1971, to 40.3 in 2013 and by 2037, 42.8
what are the causes of an ageing population?
-increased life expectancy
-decline in death rate
-decline in infant mortality
-decline in fertility
what are the negatives of an ageing population?
-ageism
-increased dependency ratio
-more strain on healthcare and welfare services
what are the positives of an ageing population?
-people are healthier longer so can work for more time- legal abolition of retirement age in 2011
-community involvement
-the grey pound
-less crime
How might the experience of old age differ amongst social groups?
-poorer will have a worse experience as they won’t have a private pension and may experience fuel poverty
what are the policy implications of an ageing population
-social policies will need to change to finance a longer period of old age
-encourage older people to trade down
-ideas of how old is old enough to retire may need to change
-more over 50’s accommodation
