Population & Society

SOLUTIONS: INFLUENCING POPULATION SIZE Demographic Transition: As countries become economically developed, their birth and death rates tend to decline. Preindustrial stage: little population growth due to high infant mortality. Transitional stage: industrialization begins, death rates drops and birth rates remain high. Industrial stage: birth rate drops and approaches death rate.

SOLUTIONS: INFLUENCING POPULATION SIZE Generalized model of demographic transition. Some developing countries may have difficulty making the demographic transition. Figure 9-14

Birth rate and death rate Relative population size Stage 1 Preindustrial Stage 2 Transitional Stage 3 Industrial Stage 4 Postindustrial High Birth rate Birth rate and death rate (number per 1,00 per year) Relative population size Death rate Figure 9.14 Generalized model of the demographic transition. There is uncertainty over whether this model will apply to some of today’s developing countries. QUESTION: At what stage is the country where you live? Total population Low Low Increasing Very high Decreasing Low Zero Negative Growth rate over time Fig. 9-14, p. 183

Demographic stages in countries- As countries becomes industrialized their birth rates decline.

Pre-industrial Harsh living conditions lead to a high birth rate and high death rate. Thus, there is little population growth.

Transitional As industrialization begins, food production rises and health care improves. Death rates drop and birth rates remain high The population grows rapidly

Industrial Industrialization is wide spread The birth rate drops and eventually approaches the death rate. This is because of: better access to birth control decline in the infant mortality rate increased job opportunities for women the high cost of raising children who don’t enter the work force until after high school or college.

Postindustrial The birth rate declines even further, equaling the death rate and thus reaching zero population growth. Then, the birth rate falls below the death rate and the total population size slowly decreases. (Cont….)

37 countries have reached this stage. (mainly in W. Europe) To most population experts, the challenge is to help the remaining 88% of the world to get to this stage.

Question of the Day As a country goes through the demographic transition, the greatest rate of population growth takes place during which phase? The preindustrial The pretransitional The transitional The industrial The postindustrial

Factors Affecting Birth Rates and Fertility Rates The number of children women have is affected by: The cost of raising and educating them. Availability of pensions. Urbanization. Education and employment opportunities. Infant deaths. Marriage age. Availability of contraception and abortion.

Hourly manufacturing job wage (adjusted for inflation) $3 2000 $15 47 years Life expectancy 77 years 8% Married women working outside the home 81% 15% High school graduates 83% 10% Homes with flush toilets 98% Homes with electricity 2% 99% Living in suburbs 10% Figure 9.7 Some major changes that took place in the United States between 1900 and 2000. QUESTION: Which two of these changes do you think were the most important? (Data from U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Commerce) 52% 1900 Hourly manufacturing job wage (adjusted for inflation) $3 2000 $15 Homicides per 100,000 people 1.2 5.8 Fig. 9-7, p. 176

Case Study: U.S. Immigration Since 1820, the U.S. has admitted almost twice as many immigrants and refugees as all other countries combined. Figure 9-8

U.S. Statistics Because of the ‘Baby Boom’ the US has a bulge in the pyramid with people in their 50’s-60’s. There are also more women than men in the older age group because of differences in longevity between the sexes. (Cont…)

The US has a high % of retired people because of long life expectancy The US has a high % of retired people because of long life expectancy. This makes us realize the importance of social security, etc. The economy is now geared towards this population The US is considered a slow growth population.

Thomas Malthus He argues that rising wages and improved well-being would lead to excess reproduction among the working class. A labor surplus would then cause wages to fall below subsistence levels, resulting in starvation, disease and crime. In his view, land for food production was the limiting factor in both population growth and economic development.

Human predictions If there was a continued growth and not death, food would run short and available space would run out. But, humans can’t reproduce as fast as other animals. This helps to stop the growth.

Gross National Product- The most commonly used measure of the economic growth of a country.

Infant mortality rate- Number of child/infant deaths Infant mortality rate- Number of child/infant deaths. If a mother lives in an area with a high infant mortality rate she will tend to have a lot of children to ensure some will make it to adulthood.

Zero Population Growth- When the number of births, equals the number of deaths. No growth in the population. Total Fertility Rate- an estimate of the average number of children a women will have during her childbearing years.

Replacement-level fertility- the number of children a couple must bear to replace themselves. It is slightly higher than two children per couple. (2.2 in developed countries and as high as 2.5 in some developing countries) It is greater in countries w/ high infant mortality rates than in countries w/ low infant mortality rates

Age structure- Percentage of the population at each age level in a population Generation time- the time it takes for 1 generation to pass.

Question of the Day It has recently been estimated that the growth in world population has slowed in the past decade. Despite this trend, environmentalists remain concerned about the environmental impact of world population, principally because the standard of living is increasing in many developing countries, leading to an increased per capita use of natural resources people are living longer in developed nations, putting a strain on the economies of those countries life expectancy is still decreasing in Africa due to AIDS the standard of living is poor in many developing countries, leading to a great deal of deprivation and suffering fertility is falling due to exposure to endocrine disruptors released into the environment