FAMILIES AND HOUSEHOLDS: DEMOGRAPHY Flashcards
what are the 4 factors that affect the size of a country’s population?
-births and immigration increase the population
-deaths and emigration decrease the population
(no. births + no. deaths)
-natural change= no. of births - no. deaths
-net migration= no. of immigrating into a country- no. emigrating from it
what is net migration?
-The difference between the number of immigrants entering a country and the number of emigrants leaving
what is the birth rate?
-no. of live births per 1000 people
what is the total fertility rate?
-average no. of children women all have
what are 2 reasons for changes in fertility and birth rates?
-baby booms after 2 world wars and in the 1960s
-fell sharply in the 70s, more in the 80s and 1990s until 2001
what does the change in position of women affect decline in birth rate?
-women having other focuses such as their career and doing well in their education as their priority (changes in attitudes)
-other factors such as: educational equality, legal equality, women’s employment, increased divorce, control of fertility
why is there a decline in the infant mortality rate?
-improved and better nutrition, better education, role of housewife, improved healthcare services
why are children seen as an economic liability?
-up to the 19th century children had worked to support their parents financially but are now a burden and a cost to parent today due to compulsory education, no under-age working
what is child centredness?
-social construction of childhood so there is more attention and resources on fewer children.
what is the reason for the slight increase in births since 2001?
-birth and fertility due to high immigration to produce a greater fertility rate
effects of changes in fertility: the family
-smaller families lead to women working instead and as a result of this roles can be shared equally between husband and wife
effects of changes in fertility: the dependency ratio
-The relationship between the size of the working population and the non-working or dependent population
-there will be fewer babies=fewer workers
‘burden of dependency’
effects of changes in fertility: public services and policies?
-lower birth rate means fewer services needed and lower cost
-e.g. education= fewer schools/ smaller classes
what is the death rate?
-no. of deaths per 1000 of the population per year
according to Tranter what was the main reason for the decline in death rate from 1850 to 1970?
-because of the vaccinations against diseases like Diphtheria, measles, smallpox, typhoid and TB
-there was a decline in men in dangerous jobs, smaller family size, knowledge of illness, lifestyle changes and natural resistance
by the 1950s, what kind of diseases had become the main cause of death?
-diseases of wealth (heart disease cancer) more prominent
what social factors like improved nutrition had an impact on death rates?
-IMPROVED NUTRITION: Mckeown(1972) better nutrition meant better resistance to disease and chances of survival
EVALUATION: females live longer despite receiving smaller share of food supply
what social factors like medical improvements had an impact on death rates?
-MEDICAL IMPROVEMENTS: had no part in the reduction of deaths from infectious diseases
what social factors like public health measures had an impact on death rates?
-PUBLIC HEALTH MEASURES: more effective central and local government with the necessary power to pass and enforce laws led to a range of improvements in public health
what other social changes had an impact on death rates?
-OTHER SOCIAL CHANGES: the decline of dangerous manual occupations such as mining
-smaller families reduced rate of transmission of infection
what social factors like smoking and diet had an impact on death rates?
-SMOKING AND DIET: Harper- greatest fall in death rates in recent decades has come not from medical improvement but from a reduction in the no. of people smoking
what is life expectancy in comparison from 1900 to 2013
how long an average person is expected to live for
-it has greatly increased since 1900
In 1900- 50 for males and 57 for females
In 2013 - 90.7 for males and 94 for females
(women have longer life expectancy by 3 years- 15% reach 100)
why was life expectancy low in 1900 and why might social class affect this?
-the fact that any infants and children couldn’t survive
-Walker: on average poorest die 7 years earlier than the richest)
what was the projected number of centenarians (people over 100 years old) in 2100
-15000 (estimated 1million)
Ageing population - average age is now nearly 40 why?
- increased life expectancy
- low infant mortality
- declining fertility
what are the effects of ageing population?
-Public services consumed (e.g. healthcare services)
-NHS-elderly account for 50% of people in hospitals, 60% of drugs prescribed
- More one-person pensioner households (waste of housing with the extra space could be utilized by new families)
-Rising dependency ratio (no. retired ppl rises to inc. ratio)
{EV: age at which people receive pensions are rising=retire later)
- ageism -old people viewed as an issue - not always case
what is ageism and what are examples?
-negative stereotyping and unequal treatment of people on the basis of their age
-old people seen to be a burden due to their vulnerability so jobs aren’t offered to them since they’re seen as not useful.
what is structured dependency?
-the idea that older people are excluded due to structures of society e.g. having a retirement age
how do Marxists view old age in capitalist society?
-Philipson: old age not useful to serve capitalism so they suffer ageism and can lack support (which is often towards women)
how does age determine people’s roles in modern society?
-due to fixed life stages imposed by society
Old age in modern society:
-life is structured into fixed age stages - and age related identities.
-Status is determined by our role in production - those excluded from production have a dependent status
Old age in postmodern society:
-Fixed stages of life broken down- individuals have a choice of lifestyle - whatever their age.
how do people use consumption to create their identities in post modern society?
-consumption is key to identity because according to Hunt: we are what we consume (e.g. feeling old based on what we look like)
what does this mean for old people’s identities and ageist stereotypes?
-the old are targeted by the market with ‘rejuvenation products’
-that over 55 year olds should go on holiday
what is the result of old people giving into changing ageist stereotypes?
-can create identities with products (emphasis of surface features)
-media images become more positive
what are 3 policy implications of an ageing population?
(how do we finance an ageing population)
-Hirsch (2005) suggests we need new policies , for example:
-taxes increase
-increased retirement age
-encourage moving out into smaller properties
what is Migration?
-movement of people , can be internally in a country or internationally
Immigration:
-people entering country
In uk - 1900s to 1940s - mainly white immigrants
Still in 2011 most immigrants were europeans or irish.
Immigration and nationality acts tried to restrict non white immigration in 1962-1990.
Emigration:
-people leaving a country
since 1900- most emigrants have gone to USA, Australia etc
push factor - unemployment and economic recession
pull factor - higher wages or better opportunities
what is Globalisation?
-producing increased migration
Differentiation- types of migrant:
- permanent settlers
- temporary workers
- spouses
- refugees
what is Super diversity?
-Globalisation has led to migrants coming from a much wider range of countries. They can be divided again by their legal status, ethnic group, culture or religion.
class differences among migrants:
-citizens - have full rights
- denizens - privileged foreign nationals
- helots - disposable labour - poorly paid workers - including illegal trafficked workers
Feminsation of migration:
-half global migrants now female - results in globalisation of gender division of labour - as they are given sterotyped roles as carers etc
what are hybrid identities?
-Identities which draw on two or more ethnic traditions
what are transnational identities?- Eriksen
-migrants don’t feel they belong to one country as they keep going back and forth - develop identity of one or more cultures
what are hierarchical identities?
-where a person is born into a social ranking but can move up or down based on their own effort , knowledge and skills
what is Assimilationism?
-aims to encourage immigrants to adopt language, views etc.
Assimilation ideas encourages workers to blame migrants for problems such as unemployment- suggesting that the migrants have ‘taken’ normal workers jobs.
what is Multiculturalism?
-a condition in which ethnic groups exist separately and retain separate cultural identity
- however may be limited and only be able to act on it with ‘shallow diversity’ e.g eating food of culture but not being able to act in a fully immersed way ‘deep diversity’.
A03: Multicultural policies
- Eriksen distinguishes between ‘shallow diversity’ and ‘deep diversity’. Shallow diversity: regard Chicken Tikka masala as British national dish is accepted by the state. In practise this acceptance is superficial.
-Critics of multicultural educational policies celebrate shallow diversity e.g. day on Diwali, Eid while failing to address deeper problems such as racism. - From 1960s there was a move towards multiculturalism however since 9/11 in 2001 policies have swung back to demanding that migrants assimilate culturally.
