Factors affecting birth rates

Question 1

explain why cost of childcare is a reason for low birth rates in HIC

Answer 1

• The average cost for full time nursery in the UK is £1000 pm
• For many this is a considerable amount of money.
• Many parents who work full-time cannot send their children to cheaper state run nurseries as they often do not provide enough hours of care to cover a full working day
• The high costs puts people off having children or limits the number of children they can have

Question 2

explain why the rising status of women is a reason for falling birth rates in HIC

Answer 2

• In developed countries women can get high quality educations and go onto a well paid career
• The high cost of going to university and the amount of energy and effort many women put into pursuing their career means they may be unwilling to take long career breaks to have children
• The time taken to establish a career means many women in developed countries will wait until they are older to have a family.
• The older they get the less fertile they are so they will have fewer children

Question 3

explain why improvements in healthcare and diet is a reason for falling birth rates in HIC

Answer 3

• the provision of vaccines to children, improved maternal healthcare and better balanced diets means very few children die at an early age in developed countries
• this means parents do not need to have a lot of children as not all will make it to adulthood

Question 4

explain how social change is a reason for falling birth rates in HIC

Answer 4

• In many developed countries there is no longer a stigma over being single, which in the past there was
• In the past couples often felt pressure to get married and start a family, but this is no longer the case
• Instead people are choosing to remain single and not start a family
• As well many work long hours such as in Japan so do not have time to raise a family or meet a partner

Question 5

explain why provision for the elderly is a reason for falling birth rates in HIC

Answer 5

• In developed countries parents do not rely on their children to look after them when they are elderly
• They have state pensions when they retire
• Many people in developed countries earned enough money that they could save some into a private pension
• The provision of care homes and nursing homes means elder people who are no longer fit to live by themselves to not have to rely on living with their children

Question 6

explain why a low status of women in LIC is a reason for high birth rates

Answer 6

• In many developing countries women have a low status and often do not have access to an education
• This means as adults they will not be able to get a job and make an income so instead they get married and rely on their husband’s income for money
• Because they often get married at a young age they will have many fertile years ahead of them
• In some cultures the more children a man fathers the higher his social status, so he will expect his wife to provide him with lots of children

Question 7

explain why lack of mechanisation in agriculture is a reason for high birth rates in LIC

Answer 7

• In developing countries many farmers are subsistence farmers
• Which means they do not have much money so cannot afford machinery or to employ workers
• In LIC children are economic assets due to lax labour laws this means they can work from a young age
• Subsistence farmers often have large numbers of children in order to produce their crops as their children provide a labour force which they do not have to pay

Question 8

explain why high infant mortality rates is a reason for high birth rates in LIC

Answer 8

• poor sanitations, a lack of clean drinking water, lack of food, lack of vaccines and a lack of maternal healthcare all lead to a high IMR
• Because of this couples will often have large numbers of children to ensure at least some of them make it to adulthood