population Flashcards
Factors that lead to high birth rate (high pop)
Early marriages.
Preference for sons.
Need for farm labour.
Protection against old age.
Lack of family planning.
Early marriages (high pop)
Lead to frequent pregnancies.
Customary for women to wed early
Impact - Longer child bearing years ⇒ higher BR.
Example:
World Bank and ICRW in 2017 estimated that
women who married at age thirteen have on average 26.4% more live births than if they had married at eighteen or later.
Preference for sons
Some societies place importance on
having sons due to their ability to:
Carry family names
Continue working on farms as they do not move away from the family when they marry.
Example:
In Indian funeral customs, the eldest son carries out the funeral rites.
Need for farm labour
People in LDCs depend on agricultural activities to earn a living.
Most people in LDCs practice subsistence farming where they produce enough just for their families, usually with little/none to sell for profit.
Unable to afford machinery so rely on family members to complete the laborious work.
Example:
Subsistence farming makes up a high percentage of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Birth rates in India are as high as 19.3 births per 1000 people.
Protection against old age (NOT FOR LORMS)
Perception of ‘children as security when old’
especially when no pensions for retirees and
savings are limited.
More children can ensure that the aged parents will be cared for.
Lack of family planning
Family planning refers to making careful decisions about the number of children to have and planning and preparing for the expenses required.
In LDCs, family planning is absent because:
Population is less educated.
Limited access to family planning advice e.g. clinics
Due to religious and traditional values and beliefs.
Factors that lead to declining death rate
Improvements in medical and health care.
Better hygiene.
Improvements in medical and healthcare (high pop)
Medical care refers to availability to hospitals, clinics, doctors etc.
Health care refers immunisation, nutritional knowledge, availability of other measures aimed at improving quality of life.
Enabled babies to survive beyond their first year thus lower infant mortality rates.
Example:
Under the National Childhood Immunisation Programmes in Singapore, vaccination for measles and rubella was made compulsory in 1976.
Elderly live longer thus increasing life expectancy.
Better hygiene (high pop)
Less prone to falling sick and contracting diseases.
Lower DR due to availability of supply of clean water and sanitation.
Consequences of high population growth
- Higher demand for resources
-higher demand for housing - higher demand for education
-higher demand for jobs - Environmental problems
Higher demand for resources
Need for increased food supplies.
Using technology to improve food production
Such as irrigation, chemical fertilisers,
improved seeds (that produce higher yields)
Higher demand for housing
Competition leads to insufficient housing.
Particularly in cities due to migration in the country.
Insufficient land for building of homes ⇒ shanty towns or squatter settlements.
Informal, poor quality housing with no/limited basic services (e.g. water, waste disposal, electricity) built illegally on available land.
Higher demand for education
With more babies being born, a need to ensure that there are sufficient schools and teachers to educate the young.
LDCs may lack the funds to build more
schools → not everyone will be able to attend
school and obtain a good education.
What happens when people are not able to obtain a good education?
Affects job prospects -> high unemployment routes -> less investment -> no money
Higher demand for jobs
A lot of people competing for a limited number of jobs.
An estimated 30 million new jobs have to be created in the world every year if every new person reaching working age is to have a job.
Environmental problems
Larger population creates more waste.
What happens when the waste is not properly disposed of? -> diseases
Ways to control High Population Growth
- educating people on family planning
- free sterilisation
-improving healthcare - raise female literacy
Factors that lead to low birth rate (causes for low pop)
- Later marriages
- Fewer marriages
- Preference for smaller families
Later marriages (causes for low pop)
Marry later and having children later.
Women have higher academic qualifications thus choose to pursue a career before settling down and having children.
Women cannot conceive after age 50, so the delay in having children leave one with fewer years to have babies.
Example:
A 2016 report by the Department of Statistics in Singapore reported that the median age at first marriage for brides, rose from 26.9 years in 2005 to 28.2 years in 2015.
Fewer marriages (causes for low pop)
People choose to remain single, there will be
fewer families and BR will fall.
Fewer births result in the number of young
people in a population to decrease.
Example:
According to the 2017 Marriage and
Parenthood Survey, 17% of the singles aged
21 to 35 years old indicated that they do not
intend to marry, a slight increase from the
14% in 2012.
Preference for smaller families (causes for low pop)
Especially so in developed countries.
Due to increasing number of working women
who find it difficult to balance family and work.
Feel that the cost of raising children has increased.
Example:
58% of U.S. adults feel that having no more
than two children is the ideal for a family. One-
third favour having three or more children, the
lowest seen on this measure since 1996.
Factors that lead to low death rate (causes for low pop)
Better medical care and healthcare
Better nutrition
High standards of hygiene
Better medical and healthcare (causes for low pop)
With better medical and health care, people are able to enjoy longer and healthier lives. For example, vaccinations are easily available to the public, diseases can be prevented from spreading in the country.
Example:
In Singapore, all children are given vaccinations to protect them from illnesses such as smallpox and measles. In addition, world-class hospitals and well-trained doctors in Singapore enable people to enjoy excellent medical care.
Better nutrition (causes for low pop)
In DCs, people generally enjoy higher levels of income and can afford to buy sufficient food and water. Food shortages are rare in these countries.
