general trends

Question 1

Explain general trends in birth rate since the beginning of the 20th century

Answer 1

• increase after the war (people want to start families after everyone has come back from war , want normality again)
• increase in the 1960s maybe due to the increasing of welfare e.g better health care
• dramatic decrease after the introduction of the contraceptive pill and the abortion act (1967)

Question 2

general trends in the fertility rate since the beginning of the 20th century (how many children women are having)

Answer 2

• Up to 1965 the average woman in the world had more than 5 children
• since then the number has halved to 2.67 in 2000

Question 3

general trends in immigration since the beginning of the 20th century

Answer 3

• British nationality act 1948 post war construction allowed citizens of commonwealth countries to be allowed as british citizens
• 1962 commonwealth immigration act (number restricted )
• 1971 Immigration act , needed ‘right to abode’
• 1987 single european act , eu members had the right to live and work in any eu country

Question 4

general trends in life expectancy since the beginning of the 20th century

Answer 4

increase due to

• nhs 1948
• better health understanding
• better government policies
• introduction of the welfare state
• social housing

Question 5

general trends in death rate since the beginning of the 20th century

Answer 5

• a large amount of death due to two major world wars

Question 6

What impact does an ‘ageing population’ have on society?

Answer 6

it has several social and economic effects + political effects
- public services such as nhs
- rise in dependency ratio causing taxes to be distributed differently
-housing demands
-different voting patterns
however also a growing change in attitude towards old age.

Question 7

How can we help to reduce the potentially negative impact of an ageing population?

Answer 7

Hirsch (2005)
We need to increase retirement age, as this will be beneficial in two main ways: 1) people will be working and paying taxes for longer, 2) people will be relying on their pension for less time (both of these factors save the state money)

Question 8

Why has the death rate decreased since the beginning of the 20th century?

Answer 8

• nhs 1948
• better health understanding
• better government policies
• introduction of the welfare state
• social housing