Demography

• Demography


  The study of populations and their characteristics
• Characteristics of populations


  • Size of population
  • Age structure of population
• Factors affecting demography


  • Births
  • Deaths
  • Immigration
  • Emigration
• Main trends in UK demography since 1900 are of interest in sociology at A-level
• Birth rate


  Number of live births per thousand of the population per year
• There has been a long-term decline in the UK birth rate since 1900
• In 1900 there were 28.7 births per thousand, in 2014 there were 12.2 births per thousand
• Baby booms


  • Sudden and rapid increases in birth rate, followed by declines
  • Reasons: men away during wars, then return and have more children
  • Influenced by mass migration and cultural changes
• Total fertility rate


  Average number of children a woman will have during her fertile years (around age 15-44)
• Total fertility rate was 2.95 in 1960s, dropped to 1.63 in 2001, increased slightly to 1.83 by 2014
• Reasons for declining birth/fertility rates


  • Changes in women's roles - more focus on education, careers, delaying childbearing
  • Declining infant mortality - less need to 'replace' babies
  • Children are now an economic liability rather than asset
  • Child-centric parenting - focus on quality over quantity of children
• Births to mothers from outside the UK accounted for 25% of all births in 2011, expected to continue rising
• Implications of changing fertility

  • Smaller families, more women working
  • Changing dependency ratio - fewer working people supporting more dependents
  • Impacts on public services, infrastructure, policies
• Death rate


  Number of deaths per thousand of the population per year
• Death rate declined from 18 per thousand in 1902 to 8.9 per thousand in 2007
• Infant mortality rate (IMR)

  Number of deaths per thousand live births in the first year
• IMR declined from 142 per thousand in 1902 to 5 per thousand in 2007
• Life expectancy


  Average length of time one can expect to live
• Reasons for declining death rates, IMR and increasing life expectancy

  • Improved health education and awareness
  • Improved hygiene, sanitation and medicine
  • Higher living standards
  • Safer working conditions
• Improved working conditions is one of the reasons for changes in death rate, IMR, and life expectancy
• Most people today work in offices, which is safer than dangerous jobs in construction or manufacturing
• Life expectancy for men born in England in 1900 was 50 years, and for women was 57 years
• Life expectancy for men born in England in 2013 is 90.7 years, and for women is 94 years
• Working-class men are nearly three times more likely to die before reaching 65 compared to middle-class men
• Women generally live longer than men, which may be due to biological and cultural/sociological reasons
• Those living in the north and Scotland have a lower life expectancy than those in the south, which may be tied to social class and poverty
• The UK has an ageing population, with the average age increasing from 34.1 years in 1971 to 42.8 years expected by 2037
• Older people consume a larger proportion of services such as health, social care, transport, and housing compared to younger people
• There is a higher number of older people living alone, especially women, due to their longer life expectancy
• Ageism


  Age status is socially constructed, and older people are often viewed negatively as dependent and reliant
• Dependency ratio


  Older people who no longer work are dependent on the working population to provide for them
• Policy implications for an ageing population

  1. Changing retirement age

  2. Reversing the trend of early retirement

  3. Offering retraining and new career opportunities

  4. Changing housing policy

  5. Inciting a cultural change in attitudes towards older people
• In modern society, identity and status are determined by one's role in production, and those excluded from production are stigmatized, including the youth and elderly
• In post-modern society, lifestyle and consumption may become more key to identity, and age may be seen as more fluid, potentially reducing ageism
• Demography


  The study of populations and their characteristics
• Characteristics of populations


  • Size of population
  • Age structure of population
• Factors affecting demography


  • Births
  • Deaths
  • Immigration
  • Emigration
• Main trends in demography in the UK since 1900 are of interest in sociology at A-level
• Birth rate


  Number of live births per thousand of the population per year
• There has been a long-term decline in the birth rate in the UK since 1900