CONSEQUENCES a) What are the potential consequences of an ageing population (developed countries)? b) What are the potential consequences of a youthful population (developing countries)? EXTENSION: What could the governments of developed and developing countries do to overcome these consequences?

CONSEQUENCES OF POPULATION STRUCTURE LESSON 06 CONSEQUENCES OF POPULATION STRUCTURE

LEARNING INTENTIONS We are learning to: Understand the consequences of population structure

SUCCESS CRITERIA We are able to: Identify solutions for the consequences of an aging population Identify solutions for the consequences of a youthful population

AGING POPULATION Suggestions: More paternity leave to encourage people to have children More maternity benefits (incentives) Raise retirement age (increase number of taxpayers and reduce pensions) Encourage more women to work (increase number of taxpayers) Provision of crèches in the workplace Allow more immigrants into country (increase number of taxpayers) Encourage more people to take out private pension schemes (to reduce cost of providing public pensions) EXTENSION: Try and come up with some of your own solutions

YOUTHFUL POPULATION Suggestions: Laws limiting family size (e.g. China’s one child policy) More education on reducing number of births (e.g. family planning clinics) Greater education of females (evidence of lower birth rates) More opportunities for abortions and sterilisations Incentives given to limit family size (e.g. free health care) HYV crops, fertilisers and irrigation used to improve farming and crop yields. EXTENSION: Try and come up with some of your own solutions

POPULATION CONSEQUENCES Population pyramids can be used to predict future changes in population.

2015 HIGHER QUESTION Discuss the possible consequences for Ghana of the 2050 population structure. 5 marks

2015 HIGHER MARKING INSTRUCTIONS The total population will increase significantly putting additional pressure on services and resources (e.g. education) Housing in developing countries (like Ghana) is already overcrowded. This problem is likely to continue with many people being forced to live in shanty town housing There will be a much larger potential workforce which may attract multinational companies to the country An increase in the active age group, however, could also result in higher levels of unemployment or underemployment In total, there will be twice as many children, so significantly investment in maternity hospitals, immunisation programmes and education will be needed It will be necessary to build more schools and train more teachers to support the growing number of young people Government policies may promote smaller families or encourage emigration to reduce the problems of over-population With life-expectancy increasing, it will also be necessary to invest in health-care to meet the needs of an ageing population in the future

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