1. 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)

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

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

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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.

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

8. 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.

9. 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 /1000.
Total Infant deaths/Total live births x 1000

10. 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.

11. 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%

12. 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

13. 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.

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

15. 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.

16. Important Population Calculations
Dependency Ratio =
% under 15 + %over 64
% of potential labour force (15-64)
Example: Canada 1961
/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)

17. Important Population Calculations
Many Canadians stay in school until their early-late 20’s
Many others retire before they are 65

18. Population Calculations
A high dependency ratio can cause serious problems for a country if a large proportion of a government's expenditure is on health, social security & education, which are most used by the youngest and the oldest in a population.
The fewer people of working age, the fewer the people who can support schools, retirement pensions, disability pensions and other assistances to the youngest and oldest members of a population, often considered the most vulnerable members of society.

19. Population Calculations
Nevertheless, the dependency ratio ignores the fact that the people 65+ are not necessarily dependent (an increasing proportion of them are still working) and that many of those of 'working age' are actually not working.
Alternatives have been developed, such as the “economic dependency ratio”, but they still ignore factors such as increases in productivity and in working hours. Worries about increasing (demographic) dependency ratio should thus be taken with caution