Demographics since 1900

• We will be looking at the changes in birth rates and death rates

• Understand reasons why these are both in decline

• Investigating life expectancy and the ‘AGEING’ population

Demography

• Is the study of populations and their characteristics-

• Size- is the population large or small? Growing or declining?

• Age structure- is the average age of the population rising or falling?

What causes a rise in the size of our population?

What causes a decline in the size of our population?

What factors affect the country’s population?

• Increase= births and immigration (enter country)

• Decrease= deaths and emigration (exit country) ImmigrationEmigration

Key terms

• Birth rate= number of births per 1000 of the population over a year

• Fertility rate= number of births per 1000 women aged 15 to 44 over a year

• Death rate= number of deaths per 1000 of the population over a year

Births

Look at the graph on page 48, what has

happened to the birth rate since 1900?

Birth rates

• Long term decline• BUT.....• Baby booms!!-

What do you think was the reason for the first two baby

booms?

Reasons for the decline in birth rates

1. Changes in the position of women

2. Decline in the infant mortality rate

3. Children have become an economic asset

4. Child Centredness

Task

• In groups of 3 you will each become an expert in one reason for the decline in birth rate...

• Expert 1= changes in the position of women• Expert 2= decline in IMR• Expert 3= children have become an economic liability AND

child centredness

• You will have 10 minutes to read up, make notes and prepare your reason, ready to teach to the rest of your group

Future trends in birth rates

• Generally, there has been a decline in birth rates

• BUT ...... (AO2)• Since 2001 there has been a slight increase in

births• Why? • Increase in immigration= women from outside

UK have higher fertility rates

How would the changes in birth rates impact on the family

and public services/policies?

Effects of changes in fertility

• The familySmaller families means women are more likely

to be free to go to work= dual earner couple

• Public servicesFewer schools, child health and maternity

services needed

Effects of changes in fertility

• Dependency ratio = r’ship between working (independent) and non-working (dependent) parts of the population

• Children = dependent on the earnings and taxes of their parents (working population!)

• Less children= “ reduces the burden of dependency”

Death rates

• In the UK, the death rate has fallen (halved) since 1900

• However, there have been fluctuations:

What significant events may have accounted for

rises in death rates in the 1900’s?

Reasons for the increase in death rates

Reasons Description

Improved nutrition

Medical improvements

Public health measures/environmental improvements

Other social changes

Quiz

1. State three reasons for the decline in death rate (3)

2. Why has there been a slight increase in births since 2001 (1)

3. What are the trends for birth rate and death rate in the UK, since 1900? (2)

4. Define death rate (2)5. What is the difference between birth rate and

fertility rate? (2)

Quiz

6. State 2 reasons why changes in the position of women has led to a decline in birth rate (2)

7. Why does a fall in IMR lead to a decrease in birth rate? (1)

8. State two reasons for the fall in IMR (2)9. Why have children become a liability? (2)10.What is the dependency ratio and how does a

decline in birth rate affect this? (4)/21

Answers

1. Improved public health services, improved nutrition, medical improvements, smaller families, decline in dangerous jobs etc

2. increase in immigration- higher fertility rate, account for 22% of all births in the uk

3. On the decline, but peaks around the world wars (baby booms)

4. No. Of deaths per 1000 of the pop per year5. Birth rate= no of births per 1000 of pop per year,

fertility= no of births per 1000 of women aged 15-45, per year

Answers 6. Increased educational opportunities, more career driven,

access to abortion and reliable contraception, legal equality, changes in attitudes to family life and women’s roles etc

7. If many children die parents have more children to replace them, if they survive parents have fewer children

8. Improved housing, sanitation, nutrition, better knowledge of hygiene , services (anti-natal classes)

9. Expensive, economically dependent on parents now that they are in full time education and cannot work

10. r’ship between size of working pop and non-working, dependent pop. Children are part of dependent pop, so decline= less burden on working pop (parents)

Life expectancy

• How long on average a person born in a given year can expect to live

• What do you think the life expectancy is for a person in.... Any guess?

• 1900?• 2003-2005?

50 for men- 57 for women

76.9 for men- 81.2 for women

Life expectancy

• The life expectancy was so low in 1900’s because many children did not live beyond the first few years of their life

• 15% died in their first year

• A baby today has more chance of reaching their 65th birthday than a baby born in 1900 had of reaching 1!!!!

Class, gender and regional differences

• Females live longer than males

• People in the south live longer than people in the north- why?

• Middle class live longer than working class- why?

What do these diagrams tell us about the age profile in the UK overtime?

• 1901 2005

80+

60-79

40-59

20-39

0-19

80+

60-79

40-59

20-39

0-19

......The ageing population

• The average age of the UK population is rising• 1971= 34.1• 2007= 39.6• We now have more older people, while

younger groups are shrinking!!• Why do we have an ageing population? =

increased life expectancy, decreased birth/fertility rates

Effects of an Ageing population

How does the increase in old people effect public services and the dependency

ratio?

Effects of an ageing population

• Public services

use services such as NHS and social care services more

Increased expenditure on services such as, housing (old people’s homes), transport (free bus pass)

Effects of an ageing population

• Dependency ratio

Economically dependent on working group (through taxes)

Economic burden BUT age of retirement is rising- so old people

are not always economically dependent!

Policy implications

• Problem= “how do we finance a longer period of old age?”

• Hirsh (2005)- “ a number of social policies need to change in order to tackle problems faced by an ageing population!”

1. Pay more into pension schemes2. Increase retirement age – educational resources3. Changes in housing policy- trade down into

smaller houses/retirement houses

Old age can be seen as a social

construct- shaped and defined by

society