Demographic trends: death rate and life expectancy

What is the death rate?

• The number of deaths per 1000 of the population over a year.

• Has steadily decreased since 1900.

  • Was 19 per 1000 in 1901 compared to 9.0 per 1000 in 2014.

What is life expectancy?

• The average lifespan of each individual living in a particular society.

• Has risen from 48 years for men and 52 for women in 1901 to 79.5 years for men and 82.5 for women in 2014.

What about the improvement in living standards?

• McKeown (1976): the 20th century has seen a dramatic improvement in living standards:

  • Wage rises lifted many people out of poverty, meaning they could afford better housing and more nutritional food.

  • The provision of well-ventilated social housing for the poor contributed to the near eradication of tuberculosis – killed many poor in the 19th century.

  • Introduction of public health initiatives such as clean water in the home and public sanitation/sewage schemes reduced the number of people dying from water-borne diseases such as cholera.

What about improved education?

• Along with knowledge of hygiene, have led to people taking more responsibility for avoiding health-threatening behaviour and adopting more hygienic, healthy lifestyles.

What about improvement of health care?

• Life expectancy increased before the introduction of the NHS in 1948, probably because of public health measures.

• In 1958, the NHS introduced mass vaccination of all children under the age of 15 against diseases such as polio.

• New medicines and treatments are being created continuously with the aim of prolonging life as much as possible – e.g cancer treatments.

What about the introduction of the Welfare State?

• Access to the free medical care provided by the NHS, as well as social services and welfare payments.

• These provided a safety net for those most at risk of ill health.