Geog-Population and Migration

• Population change is the change in population numbers and characteristics over time
• Population structure is the way a population is made up, perhaps by gender or ages
• Crude birth rate is the number of crude births in a country per 1000 of the population in a year
• Crude death rate is the number of crude deaths in a country per 1000 of the population in a year
• Natural change is the difference between the number of deaths and number of births in a place
• Natural increase is when the birth rate is higher than the death rate. The population will rise unless there is more emigration than natural increase
• Natural decrease is when the birth rate is lower than the death rate. The population will fall unless there is more immigration than natural decrease
• Dependency rate is the proportion of people in a country that are dependent on other people in that country for support
• The Demographic Transition Model is a theoretical model based on the experience in MEDCs showing changes in population characteristics over time. It has 5 stages
• Population pyramid is a type of bar graph that shows the structure of a population by sex and age category and may resemble a pyramid shape
• Youth dependency is the proportion of people aged 14 or under in a population compared to those of working age (15-64)
• Aged dependency is the proportion of people aged 65 or over in a population compared to those of working age
• Migration is the permanent or semi-permanent movement of people from one place to another. Migration can be classified, for example, forced eg. Due to war or famine or voluntary eg. Looking or better work
• Immigration is the inward movement of people to a country from another
• Emigration is the movement of people away from on country. The outward movement
• Three reasons for falling birth rates:

  1. Increase in family planning and use of contraception
  2. Women stay in education longer and put their career first
  3. Greater desire for material possessions
• Three social implications of an ageing population;

  1. Care for the elderly- more health services and geriatric care is needed
  2. Impact on family life- with increased older people there can be stress/strain/conflict within families
  3. Loneliness- many elderly people end up living on their own when their partners die. Many get depressed, feel lonely and vulnerable to crime and vandalism
• Three economic implications of the aged dependency:

  1. lower % of people in the workforce- a smaller working population means less income, tax and natural insurance contribution to the government with increased demand for healthcare and pension
  2. Increased medical needs- expensive: quality healthcare is expensive- so the government will need to plan by setting money aside to pay for care homes, carers etc
  3. benefits for the elderly are expensive : today a man retiring at 65 may live until he is 82 so the government has to pay pensions for additional years