mortality and fertility

• age-sex structure - composition of a population as determined by the number or proportion of males and females in each age category
• baby boom - dramatic increase in fertility rates and in the absolute number of births, followed WW2
• birth rate - number of live births per 1,000 population in a given year
• death rate - number of deaths per 1,000 population in a given year
• growth rate - number of persons added to (or subtracted from) a population in a year due to natural increase and net migration; expressed as a percentage of the population at the beginning of the time period
• life expectancy - average number of additional years a person of a given age could expect to live if current mortality trends were to continue for the rest of that person’s life
• mortality - deaths as a component of population change
• population pyramid - bar chart, arranged vertically, that shows the distribution of a population by age and sex
• rate of natural increase - the rate at which a population is increasing (or decreasing) in a given year due to a surplus (or deficit) of births over deaths, expressed as a percentage of the base population
• zero population growth - population in equilibrium, with a growth rate of zero, achieved when births plus immigration equal deaths plus emigration
• fertility - ability to conceive children
• mortality - the effect of mortality on population structures is to reduce the component of the population in which the mortality occurs
• causes of change in mortality rate:

  • infancy and old age
  • epidemics and pandemics
  • war
  • diseases
• problems of having a large number of children:

  • employment generation programs, because there is a limit to what the government can generate
  • children hinder mothers from getting employed, since the mothers have to look after them
  • the low per capita household income compels the small children to involve themselves in child labor
  • all the family resources are exhausted in bringing up, with a result that there is no savings in the poor family for any unsolicited future needs
• reasons some family opt to have many children:

  • high child mortality rates
  • misconception about family planning
  • lack of access to healthcare providers
  • patriarchal values
  • forced early marriage - any marriage where either person is under 18 and hasn’t given their full consent to be married
  • lack of education
  • religious beliefs
  • social reputation