Demography

• Births


  •Birth rate is defined as the nu. live births per thousand of the population, per year.

  •There have been ‘baby booms’  in 20th century = started from WW1 and WW2 = soldiers finally coming home to have children.

  •‘baby boom’ in 1960’s = fell during the 1970’s – rose again in 1980’s – fell again in early 1990’s – increased in 2001.
• Total fertility rate


  •Birth rate = proportion of women who are at a childbearing age and how fertile they are.

  •Total fertility rate = average number of children women will have during their fertile years (15 – 44).

  •UK’s TFR has risen – but lower than the past – 1.6% per woman in 2001, it rose to 1.83% by 2014 = women had more children during the 1960’s.

  •These changes show: More women are remaining childless, than in the past & women are postponing having children, the average birth per woman has decreased.
• Reasons for decline in birth rate: Changes in women position

  •Legal equality with men, including the right to vote.

  •Increased educational opportunities – girls now do better at school than boys.

  •More women in paid employment = laws, e.g. sex discrimination helps in the work place.

  •Changes in attitude to the family life and women’s role.

  •Easier access to divorce.
• Reasons for decline in birth rate: Changes in women position


  •Access to abortions / contraception, stops women having children.

  •Sarah harper (2012) education of women most important factor towards these changes = women’s mind-set to education, resulting in fewer children. Women now aware of life away from being a mother or a housewife – most women are delaying child-bearing or starting a family.

  •Smaller families have become the norm – large families are seen as deviant or weird.
• Reasons for decline in birth rate: Changes in women position



  •IMR measures the number of infants who die before their first birthday – per thousand born alive per year.

  •More children surviving means parents do not have to have many children.

  •Fall in IMR, in UK at the beginning of 20th century, result of = improved housing and sanitation, better nutrition, better knowledge of health and medical development.

  •Evaluation: Kabir and Brass (1978) argue smaller families appeared where there were higher IMR.
• Reasons for decline in birth rate: Children are economic liability

  •Children have slowly become an economic liability = laws banning children from working means children are not bringing in any form of income – parents have to provide more.

  •Changing norms about what children expect from their parents – children now have material demands.

  •Parents / couples may not want to have children because they cannot afford their demands.
• Reasons for decline in birth rate: Child-centredness

  •Child centeredness new – family focusing on quality rather than quantity, thus having less children.

  •Fertility rates and family size has declined – one reason for slight increase in 2001, is immigration = immigrating women have higher fertility rate than UK women.
• Effects of changes in fertility

  The family: Smaller families = women can be dual workers.

  The dependency ratio: Relationship between the size of the working part of the population and the size of dependent ratio. Children make up most of the D.R so parent may have fewer children to avoid ‘burden of dependency’. Vanishing children = lower fertility means childhood will be lonelier.

  Public services and policies: Lower child birth = need for fewer schools/class sizes reduce. An ageing population is one effect of women having less children. Shows there are more old people, to young people.
• Reasons for decline in death rate - Improved nutrition

  Thomas McKeown (1972) Argues improved nutrition reason for decline in death rate = better nutrition reason for decline in death rate – better nutrition stopped many infectious.
• Reasons for decline in death rate - Medical improvements

  Before the 1950’s, medical system did not help with curing illnesses. It made no difference to the death rate. However, after the 1950’s = medical knowledge improved, medicine available for many illnesses.
• Reasons for decline in death rate - Smoking and diet

  Harper argues reason for decline in death rate, is because there has been a decrease in the amount of people smoking – 21st century, obesity replaces smoking as a health problem.
• Reasons for decline in death rate - Life expectancy


  Life expectancy refers to how long on average a person born, in a given year, is expected to live – as death rates have fallen, life expectancy has increased = men now live to 90 = Harper argues today there are over 10,000 people aged over 100, by 2100, there will be 1,000,000 people aged 100.
• Reasons for decline in death rate - Public Health measures

  In 20th century, more government involvement with medical health – led to healthier lifestyle and good quality of environment (such as housing, good quality food).
• Reasons for decline in death rate - other social changes

  Decline of dangerous manual occupations such a mining & also smaller families reduced to transmission of infection & higher income = healthier lifestyle.
• Ageing population


  •Avg age of UK, is rising, there are fewer young people & more old people – the number 65+ equalled nu. <15’s for the first time, in 2014.

  •Older population are growing but younger gen is decreasing.

  •Hirsch (2005) argues the age ‘pyramid’ is becoming less equal sized blocks and it is also decreasing.

  •Reasons for ageing pop increase:

  1. Increasing life expectancy: People are living longer into old age.
  2. Declining infant mortality: Hardly anyone dies early in life.
  3. Declining fertility: Fewer young people are being born = in relation to the nu. older people.
• Effects of ageing population

  •Infant mortality and fertility are causing an ageing population.

  Public services:

  •Older people consume larger proportion of services e.g. health care.

  •Increased expenditure on health care – audience of ageing population may mean changes to policies and provision of housing.

  One-person pensioner households:

  •Number of pensioners living alone has increased (one person pensioner households = most of these are women because women live longer than men).

  •Among 75’s = women living longer than men, sociologists call this ‘feminisation’ of later life.
• Effects of ageing population


  The dependency ratio:

  •The non-working old are now dependent on groups who are working – for example = taxes of workers pay for elderly health care.

  •Number of retired generation increasing = means greater burden on the working population.

  •Wrong to assume the ‘old’ are economically dependent = most of the old work till a late age, before retiring with their pension.
• Ageism, modernity and postmodernity


  Growing ageing population is leading to ageism = the unequal, negative treatment of old people – typically evident in the work place of the health care centre.
• Modern society and old age:

  •Sociologists argue that ageism is the result of ‘structured dependency’ = the old are excluded from paid work, leading them economically dependent on their families.

  •Philipson (1982) argues from a Marxist perspective, stating that the old do not benefit capitalist society anymore.

  •The old are thus excluded from a role in the labour force and made dependent and powerless.
• Postmodern society and old age:

  •Postmodernist sociologists = in today’s society the fixed and orderly stages of life have broken down.

  •E.g. children dressing like adults, later marriage, all create blur between each life stage.

  •Unlike modern soc, postmodern soc = what we consume is our identity. Hunt (2005) argues we choose a lifestyle and identity, regardless of our age – our age does not control how we live.

  •The old begin to try rebuild and change their identity to ‘body maintenance’. These include having cosmetic surgery, exercise equipment and gym products and anti-ageing products.
• Postmodern society and old age

  •These trends begin to break down the ageist stereotypes found in modern society = 2 features of postmodern society also undermine old age as a stigmatised life stage:

  1. The centrality of the media: Media portray positive aspects of the lifestyle of the elderly.
  2. The emphasis on surface features: The body becomes a place where the old can shape their identities – anti-aging products, allow elderly to illustrate themselves.
• Migration


  •Migration contributes to changes in the population.

  •Migration = movement of people from place to place – it can be internal (within society) or international.

  •Immigration = movement into a society.

  •Emigration = the movement out of a society.

  •Net migration = difference in numbers between immigrants and emigrants – its shows a net increase or decrease.
• Immigration


  •From WW2 = the largest immigration group were Irish = mainly because of economic reasons – very few immigrants were non-white.

  •Contrastingly, in 1950’s, black immigrants from the Caribbean began to arrive in the UK – followed by Asians, in the 1970’s and 1960’s.

  •This create ethically diverse society – by 2011. Ethnic minority groups accounted for 14% of the population – greater diversity of family patterns now evident.

  •Previously, more people left the UK than entered – however, immigration policies have now been strict on non white immigration.
• Emigration


  •During 16th century = people emigrated the country – main reason for leaving was because finances.

  1. Push factor = such as economic recession and unemployment at home.
  2. Pull factor =  such as higher wages or better opportunities abroad.
• Impact of migration on UK population structure

  •Recent years have seen increase in immigration & emigration.

  •These trends affect the population size, age structure & dependency ratio. The UK population size is growing as a result of immigration:

  1. Net migration is high – more immigrants, than emigrants.
  2. Natural increase with births exceeding deaths – more births.

  Age structure: immigration lowers the average age of the population both directly and indirectly.

  1. Directly: Immigrants are generally younger.
  2. Indirectly: Being younger, immigrants are more fertile and thus produce more babies.
• Impact of migration on UK population structure

  •The dependency ratio = immigration has three effects:

  1. Immigrants are more likely to be of the working age = helps lower ratio dependency – many older migrants return to their country to retire.
  2. However, because immigrants are young, they have more children, and increase the dependency ratio of children.
  3. The longer the group stays in London, increase of fertility rate comes to national average and reduces impact on dependency ratio.
• Trends in global migration - Acceleration

  •There has been speeding up of the rate of migration = for example, migration increased by 33%.
• Trends in global migration - Differentiation


  •Different types of migrants – permanent, temporary workers, spouses and forced migrants.

  •Increasing the diversity of migrants = e.g. there are more Chinese post-graduates than UK born graduates.

  •Most UK migrants start own ethnic minority communities.

  •Super-diversity = Vertovec (2007) argues this means more migrants come from a wider range of countries
• Trends in global migration - Differentiation


  •Robin Cohen (2006) argues there are class differences in migrants:

  1. Citizens: British citizens have full rights to vote and access to benefits – since 1970’s UK has made it harder for immigrants to gain this citizenship.
  2. Denizens: Privileged foreign nationals welcomed by the state – e.g. billionaires and diplomats.
  3. Helots: Most exploited group – state uses them as disposable labour. They are poorly paid and may even be illegal.
• Trends in global migration - Feminisation of migration

  •Today, half migrants are women – globalisation of gender division of labour = female migrants find they fit the stereotypes about owners roles as carers or providers of sexual services.

  •Ehrenreich and Hochschild (2003) argue that care work, domestic work and sex work in western countries, are mostly done by women from poor countries.
• Reasons care work, domestic work and sex work in western countries are mostly done by women from poor countries:

  1. Expansion of service occupations = traditionally employ women, in western countries has led to increasing demand of female labour.
  2. Western women have joined the labour force and are less willing to join domestic labour.
  3. Western men unwilling to perform domestic labour.
  4. The state fails to provide adequate childcare.

  •This gap has been filled by women from poor countries = Shutes (2011) found 40% of adult care nurses in the UK are immigrants and most of the rest are women.
• Migrant identities


  •We all have multiple sources of identity = family, friends, neighbourhood, ethnicity, religion and nationality – all give us a sense of belonging and community.

  •For migrants and their descendants – their country of origin may provide source of identity.

  •Migrants may develop a hybrid identity = 2 sources.

  •John Eade (1994) found that second generation Bangladeshi Muslims in Britain created a ‘hierarchal identity’: They saw themselves as Muslim, Bangladeshi, then British.

  •However, having ‘Hybrid’ identity can cause conflict = ‘you’re not one of us’ mentality.
• Transitional identities:


  •Eriksen (2007) - globalisation has created more diverse migration patterns with fragmented movement between countries.

  •Migrants are less likely to see themselves as belonging completely to one culture or country so may develop a ‘neither/nor’ identity and loyalty as they belong nowhere.

  •Modern tech also makes it possible to sustain ties without travel.

  •The globalised economy means that migrants have more links to other migrants around the world. E.g. Eriksen describes Chinese migrants in Rome who found mandarin more useful for everyday life than Italian.
• Politicisation of migration


  •Increased global flows of migrants = migration has been an important political issue = state has policies to control it.

  •Assimilationism: The first state policy approach to immigration = aimed to encourage immigrants to adopt ‘British values’.

  •But, assimilationist policies conflict with transitional migrants who have ‘hybrid’ identities and do not want to abandon their own culture.

  •Multiculturalism: accepts that migrants may wish to retain a separate cultural identity – but, in practice this may be limited to more superficial aspects of cultural diversity.
• Politicisation of migration


  •Eriksen distinguishes between ‘shallow diversity’ and ‘deep diversity’:

  1. Shallow diversity: regarding chicken tikka masala as Britain’s national dish is acceptable to the state.
  2. Deep diversity: arranged marriages or the veiling of women, not acceptable to the state.

  •Critics - the multicultural education policies celebrate shallow diversity = superficial cultural differences, e.g. saris, but ignore deep diversity like racism.

  •From 1960’s there was a move towards multiculturalism – but ever since 9/11 governments have restricted immigration through policies.