Demography and Population Calculations

How do we get population information? Censuses – a collection of data about a population Started in early Roman times Doomsday Book – England 1066 – one of the best known modern tallies of population Collected through enumerators that go door-to-door (LDC’s), or deliver censuses that are to be mailed back to the government (MDC’s)

What kind of information is collected? population gender religion age nationality occupation language home ownership education marital status household income possessions

Inaccuracies with data collection Homelessness Fear of entering slums and crime-ridden areas Isolation Confusion Privacy Issues Reputation Interpretation of questions and data

Problems that result from inaccuracies Unfair political representation Unfair levels of funding Lack of funding for homeless people Product Failure Faulty economic policies Difficulty in comparing nations

How often do we conduct a census? Frequency of censuses varies depending on the nation and their resources. It is very expensive to conduct a census and it requires a lot of people to collect the data. In Canada – every 5 years The Canadian government employs 4000 (Stats Canada), 500 work in the census department. Canada hires 50,000 people on short-term contracts in a census year to work as enumerators.

Population Density This is the number of people living in an area it does not take into account the area that is not liveable. It only looks at total land area. A more precise and useful calculation would be to look at the population density of arable land.

Important Population Calculations Birth Rate: measures the total # of births in a year per thousand. Total births/Total population x 1000

Important Population Calculations Death Rate: measures the total # of deaths in a year per 1000 Total deaths/Total Population x 1000 Death rates have been falling throughout the world for the last # of years. The typical death rate for less developed nations is about 16/1000. Canada is 7/1000. Young children under 1 year of age are more vulnerable to disease and death than older children.

Important Population Calculations Infant Mortality Rate: measures the # of deaths of infants (<1 year old) per 1000 births. In Canada it is about 9/1000 while in less developing countries it can be as high as 150-198/1000. Total Infant deaths/Total live births x 1000

Important Population Calculations Life expectancy is defined as the average life span of individuals. It is high in the developed countries, (Canada 75), and low in the less developed countries, (Gambia 43). Life expectancy is increasing in most countries and the female average is 3-4 years more than males. To compensate for this male babies normally outnumber females by 5% throughout the world.

The annual rate of population growth equals the birth rate (BR) minus the death rate (DR) BR-DR = RNI Make it a percentage, move denominator from 1000 to 100 e.g. 9/1000 = 0.9/100 = 0.9%

Total Fertility Rate The TFR indicates the average number of children a woman would have in her lifetime if the annual fertility rates remained constant. It depends on factors such as culture, religion and economic status It tends to be higher in less developed countries

Replacement Level For a country to maintain its level of population if no migration were to take place, a certain fertility rate must be achieved. It is about 2.1 children per female in MDC’s and about 2.5 children per female in LDC’s.

Net Migration Rate difference between the immigration ( people moving in) rate and emigration (people moving out) rate (immigration rate – emigration rate × 1000)

Important Population Calculations Dependency Ratio: Can be determined from a population pyramid and is based on the assumption that most members of certain age groups of a population (the very young and the very old) do not work The working age is generally between 15 and 64.

Important Population Calculations Dependency Ratio = % under 15 + %over 64 % of potential labour force (15-64) Example: Canada 1961 33.8+8.4/57.8= 0.73 Each member of the potential labour force supports him/herself plus 0.73 additional people (or 73 dependents for every 100 people in the labour force)

Important Population Calculations Is this accurate? Many Canadians stay in school until their early-late 20’s Many others retire before they are 65