4 - Demography

What was the average number of children per family in 1920 and 1950 compared to now?

In 1920 it was 3.1 whereas now it is 1.75 children and in 1950 the average number of children per family was 2.1

Has the total fertility rate gone up or down and why?

Down because generally more women are postponing having children to when they are 30 so they won't be as fertile for as long causing them to have less children. Also more women now are remaining childless than in the past

What are the reasons for the decline of the birth rate?

- changes in women's position

- decline in the infant mortality rate

- children are now an economic liability

- child centredness

Describe how changes in women's position caused a declining birth rate?

- legal equality with men and the right to vote, more educational opportunities (women do better than men at school), more women in paid employment (sex discrimination act), access to abhortion, contraception and divorce and changes in women's attitudes towards family life

- Sharpe said the education system has led to a decline in birth rate because it led to a change in mindset upon women and more educated women will also use family planning and see more to their lives than being a housewife

Evaluate how women's changing position caused a declining birth rate?

- Sharpe agrees and says women now prioritise careers over childbearing

- lots of women still choose to have children just later in life

- birth rate remains high in some ethnic groups due to culture

- postmodernists say women have more choice so can opt for large families eg: Radfords have 22 children

How did the decline in IMR cause a declining birth rate?

- Harper argues a decline in IMR leads to a declining birth rate as parents won't need to make more children to replace the ones they have lost as more children now survive

- the IMR today is only 3.9 compared to 154 in 1900 per 1000

- there are now more vaccinations such as the measles vaccine, more prenatal clinics causing better nutrition of mothers and overall better sanitation in general

Evaluate how the IMR caused a declining birth rate?

- IMR still tends to be high in some countries such as Afghanistan

- religious groups still encouraging large families despite IMR

Describe how children being an economic liability caused a declining birth rate?

- children used to be economic assets to their parents as they could be sent to work to earn an income for the family whereas now there are laws banning child labour and children must stay in some kind of education until they are 18 limiting this.

- changing norms have meant children now financially expect more from their parents in terms of material things which cost money causing financial pressures

- this links to Aries because in the past children were economic assets to thei parents but aren't now

Evaluate how children being an economic liability causes a declining birth rate?

- cost of living crisis supports it

- financial pressures aren't as big due to welfare support

- child benefit and tax credits from the government can encourage families to have more children

- children can be young carers and save parents a lot of money in caring fees

How does child centredness cause a declining birth rate?

Society moving towards investing more time, money and effort into fewer children to give their children the best opportunities instead of spreading resources across many children (quality over quantity)

Evaluate how child centredness causes a declining birth rate?

- not all families are child centered as some prioritise work or extended family obligations

- some argue this is exaggerated as poverty and inequality can mean children lack support

What is predicted in the future for trends to birth rates?

There has been a slight increase in birth rates but this is mainly due to migration

What are the 3 effects of the changes in fertility and describe them?

- family = smaller families mean women are more free to go out to work creating a dual earner couple which allows better off couples to be able to afford childcare

- vanishing children will mean childhood will become increasingly lonely as children will have less siblings and support however some people say this will cause children to feel more valued. Vanishing children will also lead to a rise in the dependancy ratio in future years causing a burden of dependancy where the working generation are struggling to support the non-workers (now it is 59%).

- new public services needed such as fewer schools and child health services and new types of houses to be built

What is the average age of the uk population? What does this show and why is it like this?

- 40.7 years

- ageing population

- increasing life expectancy, declining IMR and declining fertility

What are the effects of an ageing population?

1) public services (older people consume more health and social care services)

2) more one-person pensioner households (these now account for one in every eight households and leave women lonely as among over 75's there are twice as many women as men which is called the feminisation of later life)

3) rising dependency ratio (the non-working old need to be provided by those of working age, e.g. taxation to pay for pensions and health. more retired people means increased DR)

4) ageism (negative stereotyping of older people such as discrimination in employment and the cost of pensions or healthcare being a problem).

What is the modernist view on old age? Also Marxist?

- Modernists say ageism is a result of structured dependancy which excludes old people from work due to compulsory retirement causing them to have a dependant status and rely of relatives

- Marxists (Phillipson) says old people are no longer productive so are no longer of use to capitalism causing them state to be unwilling to support them and often relatives have to

What do postmodernists say about old age?

- Hunt says now the boundaries between life stages are blurred as we define our identity by what we consume as now there are lots of anti aging things such as cosmetic surgery

- Postmodernists also don't believe as much old age is a stigmatised part of life as media images now portray positive aspects of lifestyles of the elderly

- however postmodernists don't look at the inequalities which can effect this

What does Pilcher argue about inequalities between the old?

- women's lower wages and career breaks may lead to lower pensions and a lower quality of life and they can be subject to stereotypical names

- middle class have better pensions so can afford a better quality of healthcare and may live longer and maintain their youthful identity for longer

What is the trend on death rates and the main causes of death in 1900's compared to now?

- there has been a 3/4 decline in death rates and since 1900

- main cause of death then used to be due to infectious diseases such as measles

- now there are "diseases of affluence" such as cancer (all women) and heart disease (old men) and suicide (young men) which kill people

What are the reasons for the declining death rate?

Medical improvements, improved nutrition, smoking and diet changes, public health measures, other social changes.

Describe and evaluate how medical improvements was a reason for the decline in death rate?

- setting up of the NHS in 1948 increased life expectancy and other advances in surgery and medicine

- however, access to healthcare is unequal as lower income groups and ethnic minorities face inequalities (a study showed once that ethnic minorities get less pain medication)

Describe and evaluate how improved nutrition was a reason for the decline in death rate?

- McKeown argues an improved diet helped reduce deaths from diseases and viruses as they made better immune systems for people to fight infections so increased survival chances

- more healthy food guides and availability of fresh food and vitamins

- however, obesity is now a major killer as it contributes to eg heart disease showing how nutrition has got worse 1/4 of all adults are obese

- low-income families may not be able to afford nutritious foods

Describe and evaluate how smoking and diet was a reason for the decline in death rate?

- Harper argues the decline in smoking rates has reduced lung cancer deaths by eg: Health Act 2006 banning smoking in enclosed public spaces and the tobacco and vapes bill in 2025 which will be introduced soon

- However, obesity has replaced smoking, vapes have replaced cigarettes

Describe and evaluate how public health measures was a reason for the decline in death rate?

- government policies such as better ventilated less crowded accommodation and improved sewage disposal methods

- vaccination programmes

- However, there are cuts to funding of public health services and 1/10 landlords have mould in their houses causing bad health

Describe and evaluate how other social changes was a reason for the decline in death rate?

- decline in dangerous manual occupations such as mining

- smaller families reduced spread of diseases

- however, there are global health threats such as COVID19 and more loneliness and mental health issues

What are some differences in life expectancy due to class, gender and region?

- working class men in unskilled jobs are 3 times more likely than middle class men in professional jobs to die before they are 65

- Walker said those living in the poorest areas of England will on average die 7yrs before those living in the richest eg: lowest life expectancy in Blackpool

- life expectancy is almost 4 years longer for women than men (men are meant to live until 79 and women until 82.9)

What is a fact comparing life expectancy in 1900 to now?

A newborn today has a better chance of reaching it's 65th birthday than a newborn in 1900 of reaching it's first birthday

Describe immigration patterns from 1900 until now? And now what part of society is made up by these ethnic groups?

1900-1945 = mainly Irish (0.9%) immigrants for economic reasons followed by Jews (0.5%) fleeing persecution and people from British descent from Canada and USA

1950's = Windrush generation of black immigrants from the Caribbean (3.7%)

1960's and 70's = South Asian migrants from India, Pakistan and East African Asians from Kenya (9.3%)

NOW = 18% of the UK society is made up from ethnic minorities

Name 2 reasons for emigration from the UK abroad?

- economic recession and unemployment

- better climate and perceived quality of life in sunny places elsewhere

What are the push and pull factors for immigration?

Push

- war

- religious conflict

- unemployment

- natural disasters

Pull

- democracy

- freedom of thought

- national minimum wage

- welfare state

What are some benefits of a ethnically diverse society?

- immigrants tend to be younger so will work and reduce the dependency ratio however as they are younger they may have more children which will negatively impact the DR

- shared cuisine/culture eg: Manchester's curry mile

- Polish migrants can cause a rise in religion in the area

What are 2 trends linked to migration and globalisation?

Differentiation

- increasing number of different types of migrants

- Cohen says distinguishes 3: citizens (full citizen rights), denizens (privileged foreign nationals welcomed by the state), helots (most exploited group used as a reserve army of labour and found in poorly paid domestic work)

Feminisation of migration

- almost half of global migrants are now female

- Hochschild says that care and domestic work in Western countries are increasingly done by women from poor countries due to an increase in the service sector

How has globalisation and migration caused migrant and transnational identities and explain?

- due to globalisation Eade found that second generation Bangladeshi Muslims created hierarchal identities which can cause conflict over what identity someone is

- globalisation has caused people to be less likely to only consider themselves to be completely belonging to one culture or country and technology makes it easier to retain the ties to other countries without having to go back and forth

What is the politicisation of migration and what issues did it cause? (assimilation)

Assimilation

- encouraged migrants to adopt the language values and attitudes of the host culture

- however this faced a problem as sometimes migrants with hybrid identities may not be willing to consider themselves as belonging to one nation-state or abandon their culture

What is the politicisation of migration and what issues did it cause? (multiculturalism)

Multiculturalism

- accepts migrants may wish to retain their identity however in practice this might be limited as Eriksen says there is shallow diversity (regarding chicken tikka masala as a British national dish is acceptable) but deep diversity (arranged marriages/veiling of women isn't acceptable)

- critics argue multiculturalism celebrates shallow diversity while failing to address bigger issues effecting children such as racism

- Castles argues that assimilation policies are counter-productive as they mark out ethnic minorities as "other" which can lead to minorities responding by highlighting their difference eg: Islamic fundamentalism which rises suspicion of them and causes anti-terrorism policies which marginalised ethnic minorities more

What is the politicisation of migration and what issues did it cause? (divided working class)

- Castles and Kosack say assimilationist ideas may cause workers to blame migrants for social problems such as unemployment resulting in racist scapegoating