Topic 5 - Demography

Question 1

What is the death rate and has it declined?
Has life exp. risen?

Answer 1

-Death rate is the number of deaths per thousand of the population per year. In 1900 it stood at 19 but by 2012 it has halved to 8.9.
-Life exp (how long avg a person born can expect to live):
Males: 1900 - 50 , 2013 - 90.7
Females 1900 - 57 , 2013 - 94

Question 2

What are the 4 reasons for the decline in the death rate?

Answer 2

1.) Improved nutrition
2.) Medical improvements
3.) Smoking + diet
4.) Public health measures

Question 3

1.) Improved nutrition

Answer 3

-Thomas McKeown (1972) argues that improved nutrition accounted for up to half the reduction in death rates. It increased resistance and bettered the survival chances if they did become infected.
-Although he did not explain why women who did not get as much nutrition lived longer than men, and why some diseases actually rose.

Question 4

2.) Medical improvements

Answer 4

-After the 1950s; Improved knowledge, techniques and organisation helped reduce death rate. Advances included antibiotics and improved maternity service as well as the set up of the NHS.

Question 5

3.) Smoking and diet (Include criticism)

Answer 5

Harper claims the greatest fall in DR has come from a reduction in the no. people smoking.
❌However, in the 21st century, obesity has replaced smoking as the new lifestyle epidemic.

Question 6

4.) Public health measures

Answer 6

-In the 20th cent, more effective gvts + their laws led to a range of improvements in public health + quality of environment.
-Improvements in housing, purer water + improved sewage disposal methods.

Question 7

Other social changes

Answer 7

-Decline of dangerous manual occupations
-Smaller families = reduced transmission of disease
-Higher incomes
-Better public knowledge to stems of illness.

Question 8

State the class, gender and regional differences in death?

Answer 8

• Women generally live longer than men
• Those living in the North and Scotland have a lower life expectancy than those living in the South.
• W/c men are nearly 3 times likely to die before 65 compared to m/c men

Question 9

How has the average age of the UK population risen?

Answer 9

-In 1971 it was 34.1 but by 2013 it stood at 40.3 and by 2037 it is projected to reach 42.8.

Question 10

What 3 factors have caused an ageing population?

Answer 10

1. ) Increasing life expectancy
2. ) Declining infant mortality rate
3. ) Declining fertility

Question 11

What comes under effects of an ageing population?

Answer 11

1.) Public services
2.) One-person pensioner households
3.) The dependency ratio

Question 12

1.) Public services + 2.) One-person pensioner households

Answer 12

• Older population consume a larger proportion of public services.
  -An ageing pop. may also mean changes to policies + provision of housing, transport/other services.
• ^ One-person pensioner households

Question 13

3.) The dependency ratio

Answer 13

Dependency ratio, the non-working old need pension pay and healthcare through taxes.
-As the no. retired people ^ so does the dependency ratio + the burden on the working pop.

-However, it’s deterministic to assume that ‘old’ = ‘economically dependent’. For example, the age at which people can draw their pension is rising.

Question 14

Ageism, modernity + postmodernity

Answer 14

-One consequence of the ageing pop. in modern society is the ^ of ageism (stereotyping + discrimination of old people).
-Apparent in employment + healthcare.

Question 15

What is marxist perspective on ageism?

Answer 15

-Phillipson argues that the old age are no use to capitalism = the state is unwilling to support them leaving responsibility on the family. The old are excluded from a role in the labour force = dependent + powerless.

Question 16

What is the postmodern view on old ageism

Answer 16

-In postmodernism trends such as children dressing in adult styles, later marriage + early retirement all begin to blur the boundaries between the life+stages.
-We can choose a lifestyle + identity regardless of age —> old become a market for cosmetic surgery, gym memberships + anti-ageing products.

Question 17

How is there inequality amongst the old?

Answer 17

• The m/c have better pensions and greater savings
• Women’s lower wages also means lower pensions
• Some argue postmodernist understate the importance of these inequalities

Question 18

What social policies need to occur to reduce ageism?

Answer 18

• Donald Hirsch (2005) says we need to finance a longer period of old age.
• Housing policy may need to change so that old people trade down into smaller houses but have a better standard of living.

Question 19

Migration - key facts

Answer 19

-In addition to natural change, the other factors affecting the size + age of the pop. is migration.
-Migration refers to the movement of people from place to place. It can be internal, within a society, or international.
-IMMIGRATION refers to movement into a society.
-EMIGRATION refers to movement out.
-NET MIGRATION is the difference between the numbers of immigrants + the numbers of emigrants.

Question 20

Immigration

Answer 20

-From 1900 until the Second World War, the largest immigrant group were Irish (economic) - eastern + Central European Jews (persecution) + Canadians + Americans on British descent. Very few immigrants were non-white.
-By contrast, during the 1950s, black immigrants from the Caribbean began to arrive in the UK, followed during 1960s + 70s by South Asian immigrants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh + Sri Lanka, and by East Africans from Kenya + Uganda.
-One consequence is a more ethnically diverse society. By 2011, ethnic minority groups accounted for 14% of the pop —> greater diversity of family patterns.
-However, as previously, more people left the UK than entered + most immigrants were white.
-Despite this, however, a series of immigration + nationally acts from 1962-90 placed severe restrictions on non-white immigrants.

Question 21

Emigration

Answer 21

-From early as the mid 16th century until the 1980s, the UK was almost always a net sported of people.
-The main reasons for emigration have been economic:
1.) ‘Push’ factors such as economic recession + unemployment at home.
2.) ‘Pull’ factors such as higher wages/better opportunities abroad.
-These economic reasons for migration contrast with those of some other groups, who have been driven to migrate by religious, political or racial persecution.

Question 22

How has migration impacted on UK population structure?

Answer 22

-The UK pop. Is currently growing, partly as a result of immigration.
-Net migration is high, with more immigrants than emigrants.
-There is also a natural ^, with births exceeding deaths. However, births to UK born mothers remain low. Births to non-UK born mothers are higher + account for about 25% of all births, but even with these, births remain below the replacement level of 2.1 per woman. If not for net migration, the UK’s pop. would be shrinking.

Question 23

How has immigration impacted on UK age structure?

Answer 23

-Immigration lowers the avg age of the pop. both directly + indirectly.
-Directly; Immigrants are generally younger
-Indirectly; Being younger, immigrants are more fertile thus produce more babies.

Question 24

What 3 effects does immigration have on the dependency ratio?

Answer 24

-Immigrants are more likely to be of working age + this helps to lower the dependency ratio. In addition, many older immigrants return to their country of origin to retire.
-However, because they are younger, immigrants have more children, thereby ^ the ratio. Over time, however, these children will join the labour force to lower the ratio again.
-The longer a group is settled in the country, the closer their fertility rates come to the national avg, reducing their overall impact on the dependency ratio.

Question 25

What is the birth rate (statistics)

Answer 25

-The no. live births per thousand of the pop. per year.
-There has been a long-term decline in the no. births since 1900.
-However, there have been fluctuations in births, with 3 ‘baby booms’ in the 20th century.
-After the 2 wars + in the 1960s.
Total fertility rate is the avg no. children women will have during their fertile years.

Question 26

What are the 4 reasons for the decline in birth rate?

Answer 26

1.) Changes in women’s position
2.) Decline in infant mortality rate
3.) Children are now an economic liability
4.) Child centeredness

Question 27

1.) Changes in woman’s position; What did these include?

Answer 27

-Legal equality with men, including the right to vote.
-^ educational opportunities - girls now do better at school than boys.
-More women in paid employment, plus laws outlawing unequal pay + sex discrimination.
-Changes in attitudes to family life + women’s role.
-Easier access to divorce.
-Access to abortion + reliable contraception, giving women more control over their fertility.

Question 28

1.) Changes in women’s position; Sue Harper (2012) arguments include.

Answer 28

-The education of women is the most important reason for the long-term fall in birth + fertility rates.
-Led to a change in mind-set among women —> fewer children.
-Educated women likely to use family planning, they now see other possibilities in life apart from the trad role of housewife + mother.
-Many are choosing to delay childbearing, or not to have children at all, in order to pursue a career.
-Harper also notes that, once a pattern of low fertility lasts for more that one gen, cultural norms about family size change.

Question 29

2.) Decline in the infant mortality rate; Why did this happen?

Answer 29

-Improved housing + better sanitation, such as flush toilets + clean drinking water, reduced infectious disease. Infants are much more susceptible to infection because of their less developed immune system.
-Better nutrition, including that of mothers.
-Better knowledge of hygiene, child health + welfare, often spread via women’s magazines.
-A fall in the number of married women working may have improved their health + that of their babies.
-Improved services for mothers + children.

Question 30

2.) Decline in the infant mortality rate; Why does Harper suggest this decreases birth rate?

Answer 30

-The IMR measures the number of infants who die before their first birthday, per thousand babies born alive, per year.
-If many infants die, parents have more children to replace those they have lost, thereby ^ BR. If infants survive, parents will have fewer.

Question 31

2.) Decline in the IMR; Medical factors

Answer 31

-Before the mid-20th century, it is doubtful whether specifically medical factors had much effect on IMR - although indirectly, the medical profession through campaigns improved public health measures.
-From about the 1950s, medical factors began to play a greater role (Mass immunisation + ^ midwifery techniques).

Question 32

3.) Children are now an economic liability; Since the late 19th century how have kids became an economic liability?

Answer 32

-Until the 19th century, children were assets because they could be send out to work.
-Laws banning child labour, introducing compulsory schooling + raising the school leaving age mean children remain economically dependent in their parents for longer.
-Changing norms about what children have a right to expect from their parents in material terms means that the cost of bringing up children has ^.

Question 33

4.) Child centeredness

Answer 33

-The ^ child centredness means that childhood is now socially constructed as a uniquely important period in the individual’s life.
-In terms of family size, this has encouraged a shift from ‘quantity’ to ‘quality’.

Question 34

Future trends in birth rates

Answer 34

-As a result of numerous factors birth rates + family sizes have fallen over the last century.
-However, there has been a slight ^ in births since 2001 due to reasons such as immigration; on avg, mothers from outside the UK have a higher fertility rate.

Question 35

What 3 aspects of society affect changes in fertility effect?

Answer 35

-The family
-The dependency ratio
-Public services + policies

Question 36

How does changes in fertility affect the family?

Answer 36

-Smaller families means that more women are more likely to be free to go out to work, thus creating the dual earner couple typical of many professional families.
-However, family size is only one factor here. For example, better off couples may be able to have larger families + still afford childcare that allows the, both to work full-time.

Question 37

How does changes in fertility affect the dependency ratio?

Answer 37

-The dependency ratio is the relationship between the size of the working pop. + the size of the non-working pop.
-The earnings, savings and taxes of the working pop. must support the dependent pop. Children make up a large part of the dependent population, so a fall in the no. children reduces the ‘burden of dependency’ on the working population.
-However, in the longer term, fewer babies being born will mean fewer young adults + a smaller working pop. + so the burden of dependency may begin to ^ again.
-Vanishing children; Falling fertility rates mean fewer children. As a result, childhood may become a lonelier xp as fewer as fewer children will have siblings, + more childless adults may mean fewer voices speaking up in support of children’s interests.

Question 38

How does changes in fertility affect public services + policies?

Answer 38

-Lower birth rate —> fewer schools, maternity + child health services may be needed. It also affects the cost of maternity/paternity leave + the types of housing that need to be built.
-However, we should remember that many of these are political decisions. For example, instead of reducing the no. schools, the gvt could decide to have smaller classes sizes.

-An ageing pop; One effect of women having fewer babies is that the avg age of the pop. is rising: there are more old people relative to young people.

Question 39

Globalisation and migration

Answer 39

-Globalisation is the idea that barriers between societies are disappearing + people are becoming increasingly interconnected across national boundaries.
-Many see globalisation as producing rapid social changes. One such change is the ^ international migration - the movement of people across borders.

Question 40

Acceleration

Answer 40

-There has been a speeding up of the rate of migration. For example, according to the United Nations (2013), between 2002 - 2013 international migration ^ by 33%.

Question 41

Differentiation

Answer 41

-Many types of migrant - permanent settlers, temp workers, spouses + forced migrants such as refugees. Some may have legal entitlement while others enter without permission. Globalisation is ^ the diversity of types of migrant.
-Before the 90s, immigration to the UK came from a fairly narrow range of former British colonies. They formed a small no. stable, geographically conc. + homogenous ethnic communities.
-There are class differences among migrants, e.g. Cohen (2006) distinguishes 3 types of migrant:
1.) Citizens; full citizenship rights.
2.) Denizens; privileged foreign nationals welcomed by the states, e.g. highly paid employees of MNCs.
3.) Helots; exploited group of ‘disposable units of labour power’

Question 42

What comes under effects of an ageing population?

Question 43

3.) The dependency ratio

Answer 43

Dependency ratio, the non-working old need pension pay and healthcare through taxes.
-As the no. retired people ^ so does the dependency ratio + the burden on the working pop.

-However, it’s deterministic to assume that ‘old’ = ‘economically dependent’. For example, the age at which people can draw their pension is rising.