Reading and Interpreting Graphs

 Economically industrialized countries ◦ Have gone through industrial revolution  People have salaried work ◦ Stable jobs are easier to find  Social systems exist ◦ Retirement funding ◦ Health care

 Heavily agriculturally based countries ◦ People’s fields are their livelihood ◦ They need workers for their own land  State industries play far less of a role ◦ Not as many urban job opportunities  Majority of people work with their hands ◦ Children are their “retirement fund” ◦ Little/No social systems in place

 When a country changes from a pyramid shape, to an “urn” or a more “square shape”, it goes through a demographic transition ◦ People have less children (not needed) ◦ More social systems are in place Does this create a “healthy pyramid”?  No! We are seeing this for the first time in industrialized countries  Who will support the aging population?  This is a negative result of development.

 2015  “Healthier pyramid”  Young can support older population

 2015

 Inverted Pyramid  Aging population exceeds young

 2015

 1. Contraception - People are now able to choose when to have children (family planning) 2. Lower fertility rates - Parents realize that their children will survive past their first birthday due to medical advancements 3. Anti-Natalist policies - One Child Policy in China aimed at cutting the fertility rate to below 2 4. Career Women - Now deciding to postpone starting family to focus on forging a career path and earning money 5. Children cost a lot! - I can cost up to $200,000 to bring up a child until he/she turns 18 years old!

 Take some time to take a look at the graphs on the link provided on the website.  When you’ve had some time to examine the graphs, choose one country to examine more closely  You will answer the following questions in paragraph form on the discussion page. In your subject line, include the country you chose to examine. Please include a link to the pyramid you chose in the text.

 What kind of trend do you notice? (pyramid, urn shaped, square, inverted pyramid)  At what age do you see the greatest population?  At what age do you see the smallest population?  Is this a “healthy pyramid”? Explain.  What does this trend indicate in terms of your knowledge of development?  Based on these projections, what change do you notice to the pyramid?

 Think critically when examining your country of choice.  Is there anything surprising or unusual about the pyramid? Do some research and make some predictions as to why these discrepancies might have occurred.  Interesting Case Studies: Rwanda, Cambodia, China, Armenia, Ukraine