Demography

• Demography


  The study of population, including factors affecting its size and growth
• Factors affecting population size and growth

  • Births
  • Immigration
  • Deaths
  • Emigration
• Natural change


  The number of births minus the number of deaths
• Net migration


  The number immigrating into a country minus the number emigrating from it
• The UK's population grew from 37m. in 1901 to 68m. today and should reach 71m. by 2031
• Growth has been mostly due to natural change rather than net migration
• Birth rate


  The number of live births per 1,000 of the population per year
• There has been a long-term decline in the birth rate. In 1900, it was almost 29. By 2020, it had fallen to 11.4
• There were three baby booms: after the two world wars, and in the 1960s. The rate fell sharply in the 1970s, rose during the 1980s, before falling again after the early 1990s, with some increase since 2001
• Total fertility rate


  The average number of children a woman will have during her fertile years (aged 15-44)
• In the 1960s baby boom, the total fertility rate reached an average of 2.95 children per woman, declining to 1.63 in 2001, before falling to a low of 1.58 in 2020
• More women are remaining childless nowadays
• Women are having children later, the average age is now over 30
• Reasons for the fall in birth rate

  • Changes in the position of women
  • Fall in the infant mortality rate
  • Children as an economic liability
  • Child-centredness
• Infant mortality rate (IMR)


  The number of infants who die before their 1st birthday per 1,000 babies born alive, per year
• The IMR has fallen greatly in the last century - in 1900, it was 154; by 2019, it was 4.6