Families and Households - Demographic changes in life, death and migration

Question 1

What is ASMR?

Answer 1

Age standard mortality rate is when mortality rates are adjusted to take into account of the age structure of the population, allowing comparison between different countries with each age group.

Question 2

What is the trend in mortality rates?

Answer 2

• There has been a remarkable transformation i the death rate since the 19th century and so life expectancy has also increased
• Men also have a higher mortality rate and lower life expectancy, but the rates for men are currently falling faster than they are for women
• This could be due to men taking better care of themselves, male industry (dangerous) has declined and women and men both working longer, slowing the rate in women.
• Per 100,000 population mortality rate has steadily decreased

Question 3

The main reasons for these declines in death rate

Answer 3

1. Social - improved healthcare and medical technology, immunisation programmes and improved nutrition
2. Economic - decline of heavy industry, better life quality, more income, improved living standards, higher educational standards
3. Environmental - improved public health, air quality, smoking ban in public spaces in 2007, more leisure opportunity, green spaces / fitness trails
4. Cultural - smoking is more stigmatised, health is a concern for all, obesity ‘crisis’, less ‘stress’, and less psychological ‘wear and tear’ which according to Marmot (2003) contributed to early death

Question 4

What happened in 2015?

Answer 4

• Joan Garrod (2017) observed an unexpected 5% rise of death rates in England and Wales, raising the possibility that the long-term decline in death rates was ending
• One suggested reason has been the decline in government from austerity
• Professor Dominic Harrison, an advisor to Public Health England, attributed these cuts in the social care budgets of local authorities which limited their ability to care for the elderly, with others arguing a bad flu season and cold weather were to blame

Question 5

What is the difference between social classes?

Answer 5

• Working class people have a much lower life expectancy and higher mortality rate than their wealthy counterparts
• Rising living standards and other social and economic changes do not always have beneficial effects on health and death rates, as greater affluence has made alcohol more affordable and wider car ownership has cut exercise rates, leading to health problems
• A combination of factors have resulted in a falling death rate with different factors being more of less important in particular eras, such as falling death rates in the long term from infectious diseases, but social and economic changes may have been more important than medical advances
• The significance of psycho-social factors is illustrated by class differences and regional differences in mortality, but specific medical advances such as those related to heart disease and lifestyle changes have also been significant, such as a reduction in smoking

Question 6

An ageing population - what is the dependency ratio?

Answer 6

• Dependency ratio - the number of people in a population who are working divided by the amount of people being supported by those people
• Those in the working population are known as the sandwich / pivot sandwich
• The average age of the UK population is rising - in 1971, it was 34, but in 2014 it was 40 years of age, and it is projected to grow to 42 in 2031
• This shows that the ageing population is increasing, driving up the average age
• An ageing population is ne where the average age steadily increases, and this can impact the amount of dependent people the working generation have to support, and this can lead to many economic issues if they are not in balance

Question 7

Advantages and Disadvantages of an Ageing population

Answer 7

Pros:

• It is helpful for childcare, utilising their parents for other help
• It means that young children do not have to deal with grief
• More time as a family
• It allows people the time to do what they wanted to do whilst working
• Easy to transmit oral history
• Still contribute to the economy

Cons:

• Potential issues for economic reliance
• Can cause psychological burdens on children
• Welfare bill increases
• Pension crisis / housing crisis
• NHS spending increases
• Taxes increase
• Dependency ratio worsens
• Single person households increase

Question 8

Problem 1 - Pensions

Answer 8

• As more people are living longer and more people are older, there is a higher pension payment needed both publicly and privately, and so the levels of savings needed to pay out pensions has greatly increased, which is becoming unmanageable for the government and private pension pots
• Social policy - the Pensions Acts of 2007 and 2014 will raise the retirement age to 68 from 65 for men and 60 for women in order to increase the working population

Question 9

Problem 2 - Public Services

Answer 9

• Evandrou, Falkingham and Vlachantoni (2016) noted that restrictions on public spending have led to a reduction in the spending on social care costs for the elderly who cannot care for themselves
• This places a strain on family members and charities who have sometime shelped to fill the gap left by inadequate public funding, and it also impacted on the NHS with the elderly sometimes being unable to leave hospitals due to a lack of social care - known as ‘bed blocking’ which causes strain on an already -overstretched NHS as they have 3 times more care costs for over 75s than other ages

Question 10

Problem 3 - Housing

Answer 10

• The ageing population has led to an increase in single-person households due to widowhood, and with a shortage of housing nationally and rising house prices, this creates pressure on the housing stock
• The amount of sheltered housing has increased but it struggles to keep up with the ageing population
• Places in care homes have not expanded fast enough to cope with the rising elderly population requiring care - some pensioners live on their own but occupy large houses and an expansion of housing suitable for single retired people might help to ease housing shortages for younger age groups

Question 11

The social construction of ageing as a problem

Answer 11

• Old age like any status are socially constructed
• Often, being old is associated with negativity and has been constructed as a problem for society
• Stereotypes include - incompetent, irrational, vulnerable, a burden on society. Cross-cultural comparison is a factor in this, those in China respect older people, seeing them as wise and have a higher social status

Question 12

The Dependency Ratio

Answer 12

• The % of the population which is dependent on those who are working. The earnings, savings and taxes of the working population must support the dependent population. Children make up a large part of the dependent population.
• A fall in the number of children reduces the ‘burden of dependency’ on the working population.
• However, 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 13

Ageing population - Social Policy

Answer 13

• The ageing population provides serious issues for policy makers
• Successive governments in the UK have not found a method of funding social care in a way that is politically acceptable and many commentators believe that the NHS funding is inadequate to deal with rising demand from older age groups
• Despite this, political parties remain keen to attract the support of older voters who are considerably more likely to vote than younger age groups, and because of this state pensions have risen faster than wages in recent years and pensioner poverty has declined considerably since the mid-1990s (Age UK, 2017)
• However, as Age UK points out, about one in seven pensioners still live below the poverty line and the position of individuals over retirement age varies greatly with some being

Question 14

The Functionalist perspective of ageing

Answer 14

Disengagement Theory -

• Cumming and Henry (1961) were unusual among age sociologists claiming that the marginalisation of old people was functional for society, as the disengagement (withdrawal) of people from social roles was necessary and beneficial for society
• Cumming and Henry claim that as people age they lose vitality, as their health usually declines and they become more self-absorbed, and these changes make the elderly less equipped to carry out important social roles like paid employment
• If people in these roles continue as they age, the role will not be carried out as well, causing problems for the effective functioning of society
• Older people block opportunities for younger people by continuing to occupy key positions, and this causes stagnation in society
• Furthermore, attempting to maintain previous roles beyond an age when they can comfortably perform them leads to frustration and fatigue for older people
• With more people remaining healthy and active beyond typical retirement age, government increases in the pension age and the increasing proportion of the population in older age groups, disengagement theory is becoming less credible
• However, there is some concern that pension and benefits changes are forcing some older people to continue in work beyond the age when they feel physically and mentally equipped to do so

Question 15

Migration key terms

Answer 15

Migration - Movement of people between places
Immigration - Entering a new country
Emigration - Leaving a country
Net Migration - Difference between immigrant and emigrant numbers
Push / pull factors - Reasons to leave/arrive
Hybrid and transnational identity - Mixture of identity or cross cultural identity
Globalisation - Process of greater trade, transport, tech links
Dependency Ratio - Working population divided by child/OAP

Question 16

Migration statistics - UK

Answer 16

Migration has steadily increased since 1993, due to a range of factors such as globalisation, political changes, transport, recession and conflict
The Net Migration Rate in different years:
1. 1969 - -87,000
2. 1983 - 18,000
3. 1993 - less than 1,000
4. 2004 - 245,000
5. 2015 - 332,000
Office for National Statistics migration estimates published in November 2021 suggest that the number of EU nationals leaving the UK exceeded the number arriving by around 94,000, compared to net inward migration from the EU to the UK of 32,000 in 2019.
- In the 2011 Census, 87% of the UK population was White British, with 7% being Asian and 3% being black

Question 17

Why do people migrate?

Answer 17

Push Factors:

• Conflict
• Lack of employment
• Lack of resources- lack of welfare, economic recession
• Poverty
• Political situation

Pull Factors:

• Education
• Employment
• Standard of living - access to healthcare
• Family
• Climate

Question 18

Castles and Miller (2009) - ‘Age of Migration’; postmodernists

Answer 18

They state that migration now has the following characteristics:

• Globalisation of migration (more countries are involved in the process)
• Acceleration of migration (increased flow of people)
• Differentiation of migration (many different types; refugees, economic migrants, asylum seekers, resettlers, many different reasons for migration)
• Feminisation of migration (more women migrate for care/domestic jobs)
• Politicisation of migration (tied to national security, it has become a hot topic and controversial; links to social policy and a need for international agreements)

Question 19

What are the impacts of migration on UK families?

Answer 19

• Many immigrants are young - age diversity (they look to marry and settle here and have children), and therefore the age structure is then lowered as they are younger and they have more younger children
• Immigrants increase the cultural diversity of the UK - more mixed heritage families and development of hybrid identities
• Increases the population (number of people arriving) and non-UK born mothers have a higher TFR than UK born mothers (more children per women)
• Immigrants are more often of working age and have children who grow up to work, whilst few bring older relatives, which improves the dependency ratio

Question 20

Feminisation of Migration

Answer 20

• Almost half of global migrants are female
• Ehrenreich and Hochschild (2003) - care/domestic/sex work in western countries done by women from poor countries
• Shutes (2011) - 40% of adult care nurses in UK are migrants and mostly women
• Au pairs / nannies / mail order brides / sex trafficked women are all included in the figure
• Women have children, increasing the TFR

Question 21

Assimilation, Integration and Multiculturalism

Answer 21

• Assimilation (a melting pot approach) means giving up one’s home culture to adopt the ways of the dominant culture.
• Integration - Integration is more possible if there are sufficient numbers in the ethnic community (ie there are enough to be impactful to make the new culture visible) and if the ethnic community has links with the country of origin (e.g. some family members were already here and the immigrating people have a support network who are already a little assimilated) (Kibria 1997).
• Multiculturalism an approach where different cultural diversities are celebrated and retained.

An example of assimilation is David Cameron’s idea that immigrants should seek to embed themselves into the host culture and adopt elements of the host cultures norms, values, attitudes and behaviours; he suggested that women, particularly Muslim women, learn basic English.
Problem = trans-national migrants with complex hybrid identities may not want to abandon their culture.

Question 22

Translocalism and Hybridity

Answer 22

• Eriksen (2007) – globalisation = more diverse migration patterns so migrants don’t ‘belong’ to one culture or country. They have ‘transnational identities’.
• Study of Chinese immigrants in Italy – found Mandarin more useful than Italian to stay in touch with Chinese migrants around the world - This is multiculturalism NOT assimilation.
• Immigrants who reside in the new country begin to create a new family life, one that is influenced by both past cultural practices and the ways of the new country, but is also different from both (Foner 1997; Kibria 1997).

Question 23

Eriksen (1997) - types of diversity

Answer 23

Identified types of diversity -

1. Shallow diversity = acceptable to the state e.g. Chicken Tikka Masala as a national dish in the UK
2. Deep diversity = not acceptable to the state e.g. arranged marriage or veiling of women

Question 24

Super Diversity – Vertovec (2007)

Answer 24

• Historically migrants came from UK colonies (they were more ‘British’ in culture or acceptable to the host population)
• Now – permanent settlers, economic migrants, spouses, forced migrants (refugees/asylum seekers), students. Globalisation increases the variety of migrants.
• Since 1990s we have seen ‘super diversity’ in
  migration patterns. Not homogenised groups but widely dispersed throughout population.

Question 25

Suarez-Orozco and Suarez-Orozco 2001

Answer 25

Because it is easier for children than their parents to learn the country’s language, children become the interpreters and serve as the family’s contact with the outside world, undermining parental authority and status.

Question 26

Gold 1992

Answer 26

• Family or ethnic businesses may be viewed as the best option for new immigrants who have difficulty obtaining employment that require language fluency and other skills.
• Ethnic businesses serve several functions: economic support for the family, employment of others in one’s ethnic group family autonomy that is not readily available with low-or minimum-wage employment, provision of in-kind wages such as food, clothing, or a chance to bring their children to the work setting instead of hiring a caretaker.

Question 27

Miri Song 1999

Answer 27

• In her study of Chinese restaurants in Britain, Miri Song noted that older children play an integral role in the business when parents need translation assistance and unpaid labour for the survival of the business. The children consider helping out in the family business as expected and done out of good will rather than for wages. In return, parents provide material and emotional support, exemplifying the importance of intergenerational exchanges.

Question 28

Castles and Kosack (1973)

Answer 28

Assimilationist ideas encourage workers to blame migrants for unemployment and social ills. Leads to racial scapegoating. This benefits capitalism by creating a racially divided working class and prevents uniting to defend their interests (i.e. the working class remain less powerful and more easy to dominate by ruling upper class).

Question 29

Cohen 2006

Answer 29

There are class differences between migrant groups.

1. Citizens – full rights (e.g. voting and access to benefits) – NB this is getting harder!
2. Denizens – privileged foreign nationals who are welcomed (e.g. Roman Abramovic)
3. Helots – ‘slaves’ – disposable labour, unskilled, poorly paid, illegally trafficked; most exploited group.

Question 30

ONS statistics on Migration

Answer 30

• ONS - provide the best estimates of what migration is happening, based on emigration, immigration and net migration of people; November 2014 ONS statistics suggest that 583,000 people came to live and work in the UK in June 2014, including an increase of 45,000 people from the EU and 30,000 from the rest of the world
• For 20 years, the UK has seen positive net migration, with more immigration than emigration reaching a peak in 2005; in the wake of the credit crunch economic crisis and the 2011 restriction on people entering from outside Europe caused a dip in net migration but it is rising again
  Net migration figure is updated quarterly - the most recent one in June 2015 stated net migration was 336,000
• More than 600,000 migrants are estimated to have arrived in Europe by sea in October 2015, but numbers are unclear due to many passing through borders undetected
• One way to measure where migrants have ended up is through asylum applications; e.g. applications between July and September 2015 totalled 10,156, the highest number for any 3 month period since 2003 and a 64% rise on the previous three months

Question 31

The UK population and Migration

Answer 31

• The UK opted out of any plans for a quota system for the allocation of refugees and accepted 216 Syrian refugees under the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme from its beginning in January 2014
• The ONS produces projections at different levels of net migration, allowing for an estimate of the impact of future migration on population growth; the current UK population is 65 million, and if net migration was reduced to 0 the population would gradually rise to 67 million in 15 years and peak in 2050 at 67.5 million people before declining
• In contrast, if net migration continues at 240,000 (average for last 10 years) then the population is projected to rise by 2.5 million over the next 5 years and reach 73 million in 15 years, a total increase of 8 million people

Question 32

The advantages and disadvantages of an increase in the UK population

Answer 32

• Advantages - migrants provide cheap labour, they help overcome labour shortages, immigrants are often prepared to do unskilled jobs, some immigrants bring many skills with them and increases cultural diversity
• Disadvantages - Language problems, racial / ethnic tensions can arise, jobs are lost to incoming workers, pressure on housing and services like the welfare and healthcare system and limited skills / education in immigrant population

Question 33

Migration - Asian families; Richard Berthoud

Answer 33

• The majority of people in Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities live in nuclear families, mainly due to the housing design of the UK, but around 33% of Asian families, mainly Sikh and East African Asian extended families are likely to be multi-generational
• East African-Asian extended families are more likely to be vertical extended families (beanpole), whilst Sikh families are more likely to be organised around brothers and wives (horizontal)
• A 2014 study by Victor et al where 110 Asian families in the South of England were interviewed found that 90% of Asian people lived in multi-generational families
• Asian people also tend to be more traditional in their family values than White people; marriage is highly valued in most Asian cultures and there is little cohabitation or divorce (leads to more empty-shell marriages) and marriage is mainly arranged, with little intermarriage between cultures
• There is also evidence that Bangladeshi and Pakistani women marry at younger ages than White women, and that Indian women have more children at younger ages

Question 34

Migration - Asian families cont.

Answer 34

• Attitudes to the family role of women also differ between Asian groups; Muslim families, mainly of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin are more likely to encourage segregation between males and females, and females may not be permitted to have contact with unrelated men which largely confines them to motherhood, housework or working in the family businesses
• Relationships between Asian parents and their children are also very different, with Asian children respecting religious and cultural traditions and feeling a strong sense of duty to their families, especially elders - they are aware of how ‘dishonour’ can be brought to their families with bad behaviour and many Asian children are happy to go along with arranged marriage traditions as long as they can negotiate their future partner
• However, as Asian teenagers engage more in British culture and peers, there is potential for generational conflict between parents and children, as they may engage in peer group behaviour like drinking alcohol, taking drugs and other negative behaviour
• Asian families, particularly South Asian, feel a strong sense of duty and obligation to assist extended kin in economic and social ways, which is important as Bangladeshi and Pakistani families in the UK are more likely to be living in poverty than Indian and white families, an such obligations are often globalised as extended families send money to relatives on a regular basis and travel to nurse sick or dying relatives

Question 35

Victor et al - Asian families

Answer 35

• Older people in P and B communities in England were uncertain if they could depend on their children to follow tradition and look after them, because children were increasingly geographically mobile and more likely to move away from their parents
• They also perceived a change in young Asian people’s cultural attitudes, seeing them as less respectful and being neglectful
• Despite global ties to Bangladesh and Pakistan, these links were perceived to be weakening as parents and relatives in the home country died, even though new global links are being made

Question 36

Migration - Afro-Caribbean families

Answer 36

Berthoud’s research:

• 39% of British born AC adults under the age of 60 are in a formal marriage, compared to 60% of white adults
• AC communities have a higher proportion of lone-parent families, with over 50% of them being lon-parent
• The main reason for this according to Chamberlain and Gulboune (1999) is the increasing trend of AC mothers choosing to live independently from their children’s father, with 66% of 20 year old AC mothers remaining single compared with only 11% of their white peers, whilst at age 25 these figures moved to 4*% and 7%

These trends indicate the AC women are avoiding settling with the fathers of their children, and B suggests that the attitudes of young AC women are characterised by ‘modern individualism’ - they are choosing to bring up children alone for two reasons

1. AC women are more likely to be employed, with AC men experiencing higher rates of unemployment - B argues that pregnant AC women likely rationally weigh up the costs of benefits living with the fathers of their children and conclude that AC men are unreliable sources of income and are potentially a financial burden, with surveys indicating women prefer to economically independent of men
2. Chamberlain and Gulbourne’s study of AC mothers in Leeds noted that they are often supported by an extended kinship network when bringing up children - AC definitions of kinship often extend to ‘fictive kin’ including family friends and neighbours as ‘aunts’ and ‘uncles’
   - Fictive kin - not legally or biologically related, but the relationship is argued that the relationships are the same in terms of obligation and duty