GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHY

• Demography


  The science of people, the study of the characteristics of human populations
• The word "demography" was first used by a French writer Achille Guillard


  1855
• Even though the term "Population Studies" is more popular, the word Demography is under wider use these days
• Population education is as old as human civilization, with thinkers like Confucius, Aristotle, Plato and Kautiya expressing views on population
• Population Studies


  Besides the social, economic, geographical, political and biological aspects of population, their ensuing relationships are also studied
• Demography


  The numerical portrayal of human population
• Demography


  The study of size, territorial distribution and composition of population, changes therein, and the components of such changes, which may be identified as natality, mortality, territorial movement (migration), and social mobility (change of status)
• Demography


  A statistical and mathematical study of the size, composition, spatial distribution of human population, and of changes overtime in these aspects through the operation of the five processes of fertility, mortality, marriage, migration and social mobility
• Subject matter of demography

  • Size and shape of population
  • Aspects related to birth rate and death rate
  • Composition and density of population
  • Socio-economic problems
  • Quantitative and qualitative aspects
• Aspects of population distribution studied in demography

  • How people are distributed among and within continents, world regions, and developed and underdeveloped countries
  • How their numbers and proportions change
  • What political, social and economic causes bring changes in the distribution of population
• Theoretical aspects of demography

  • Various theories of population propounded by sociologists, biologists, demographers and economists
  • Theories of migration and urbanization
• Practical aspects of demography

  • Methods of measuring population changes such as the census methods, age pyramids, population projections
• Aspects of population policy studied in demography

  • Policies for population control and family planning strategies
  • Reproductive health, maternal nutrition and child health policies
  • Policies for human development of different social groups
  • Effects of such policies on the total population
• Micro demography


  The study of the growth, distribution and redistribution of the population within community, state, economic area or other local area
• Macro demography


  The mathematical and statistical study of the size, composition, and spatial distribution of human population and of changes over time in these aspects through the operations of the five processes of fertility, mortality, marriage, migration and social mobility
• Demography possesses the characteristics of a science - it is a systematized body of knowledge, has its own theories, can be tested by observation and experimentation, can make predictions, is self-corrective, and has universal validity
• Importance of demography

  • For the economy
  • For the society
  • For economic planning
  • For administrators
  • For democratic political systems
• Demographic Transition Theory suggests that future population growth will develop along a predictable four or five-stage model
• Stage 1 (pre-industrial society)


  Death rates and birth rates are high and roughly in balance
• Promise solutions in their election manifestos at the time of elections
• The election commission establishes election booths for voters and appoints the election staff on the basis of male and female voters in an area
• Demographic Transition Theory


  Suggests that future population growth will develop along a predictable four or five-stage model
• Stage 1 (pre-industrial society)


  1. Death rates and birth rates are high and roughly in balance

  2. Population growth is typically very slow, constrained by the available food supply
• Stage 2 (developing country)


  1. Death rates drop rapidly due to improvements in food supply and sanitation

  2. Life spans increase and diseases reduce

  3. Population experiences a large increase
• Stage 3


  1. Birth rates fall due to access to contraception, increase in wages, urbanization, increase in status and education of women, increase in parental investment in children's education, and other social changes

  2. Population growth begins to level off
• Stage 4


  1. Both birth rates and death rates are low

  2. Large group born during stage two ages, creating an economic burden on the shrinking working population

  3. Death rates may increase slightly due to lifestyle diseases and aging population
• Stage 5 (Debated)


  Fertility levels are below-replacement or increase again
• The Demographic Transition Model is an idealized generalization that may not accurately describe all individual cases
• Key points of Demographic Transition Theory

  • Populations grow along a predictable five-stage model
  • In stage 1, pre-industrial society, death rates and birth rates are high and roughly in balance, with slow population growth
  • In stage 2, death rates drop rapidly due to improvements, leading to rapid population growth
  • In stage 3, birth rates fall due to various factors, and population growth levels off
  • In stage 4, both birth and death rates are low, with an aging population and economic burden
  • In stage 5, fertility transitions to below-replacement or above-replacement levels
• The sequences of demographic stages have not been uniform across countries
• The theory fails to give fundamental explanations for the decline in birth rates in Western countries
• The theory has universal applicability despite being based on European experiences
• Demographic transition in East Asia has been very rapid and large-scale compared to past events
• The Philippines is in Stage 2 of demographic transition, with rapid population growth, but is heading towards Stage 3 with population stabilization