Demography, Social Policy & Population Studies – Comprehensive Review

A broad set of 120 question-and-answer flashcards covering key demographic, social and policy concepts, empirical findings, indicators, theories and methodologies discussed across the 26-page lecture notes.

What is the basic demographic definition of “population”?

All persons residing in a given territory, analysed by geographic, administrative or socio-economic criteria.

How does ‘de jure’ population differ from ‘de facto’ population?

De jure = persons officially registered; de facto = persons actually present at the moment of observation.

Which three components drive population change in an open population?

Births, deaths and migration.

What constitutes a closed population in demographic analysis?

A population without migration; size changes only through births and deaths.

Define ‘fertility’ versus ‘fecundity’.

Fertility = observed number of births; fecundity = biological ability to reproduce.

What total fertility rate (TFR) ensures simple replacement of generations?

About 2.1 children per woman.

Name four socio-cultural determinants of fertility mentioned in the lecture.

Access to contraception, cultural norms, religiosity, family policy / material situation.

State two contemporary fertility trends observed in many societies.

Lower fertility levels and postponement of motherhood (higher age at first birth).

Which gender has higher mortality in most societies?

Men.

How do social relationships influence mortality risk?

People in partnerships have lower mortality; divorced / widowed / single individuals have higher mortality risk.

How does marital status typically affect fertility?

Marriage correlates with higher fertility; union dissolution lowers births.

Give two examples of alternative union forms gaining popularity.

Cohabitation and single parenthood / solo parenting.

List three main push-pull factors behind migration.

Employment, education and living conditions.

What is the compensatory function of migration for low-fertility areas?

In-migration can offset population decline caused by sub-replacement fertility.

Why are cities feminised in older age groups?

More boys are born, but women live longer, so women dominate at older ages.

Name the three broad age groups used in demographic structure analysis.

Pre-working (0-14/0-17), working (15/18-64), post-working (65+).

What major challenge does population ageing pose for pension systems?

A shrinking workforce must finance a growing number of retirees.

How does education affect mortality and fertility?

Higher education lowers mortality but is associated with lower, later fertility.

Why are data on ethnicity, language and religion considered ‘sensitive’?

They can affect integration, discrimination and policy, thus requiring careful handling.

What historical event triggered the first demographic revolution?

Improvements in living conditions, medicine and hygiene during the 18th–19th centuries.

Define ‘demography’.

The science studying the size, structure and spatial distribution of populations and the processes that change them.

Give two sub-disciplines of demography other than general demography.

Demometry (mathematical modelling) and historical demography.

Which sciences most closely interact with demography?

Sociology, psychology, medicine, geography / human ecology.

What is the primary data source for comprehensive national population information?

A population census.

Which mixed-mode techniques were used in Poland’s 2021 census?

CAWI (online self-enumeration), CATI (telephone interview) and CAPI (face-to-face with computer).

List three key person variables collected in the 2021 Polish census.

Age, educational attainment, labour activity (others include migration history, disability, ethnicity, religion – voluntary).

Was participation in the 2021 census compulsory?

Yes; refusal or false data could incur a fine.

Give three public-policy uses of census data.

Planning education, health, housing; territorial budgeting; scientific research / EU & UN reporting.

What is an ‘educational profile of a couple’?

The combination of the woman’s and man’s education levels (homogamy, hypogamy, hypergamy).

Which educational pairing raises the odds of childlessness according to the study?

Educational hypogamy (woman higher educated than partner).

How much fewer children do dual-tertiary couples have compared with dual-primary couples?

On average 0.7 fewer children.

What statistical model separated childlessness from parity in the fertility study?

A hurdle (two-part) Poisson regression model.

State Becker’s substitution effect in fertility economics.

Higher education increases opportunity costs of childbearing, leading to lower fertility.

What is ‘double population ageing’?

Rising share of 80/85+ within the already increasing 65+ group.

Define the Potential Support Ratio (PSR).

Number of people aged 15–64 per 100 persons aged 65+.

What does the ‘Caregiver Support Ratio’ measure?

Persons aged 45–64 per 100 persons aged 80+ (often calculated for women).

What percentage of Polish seniors have unmet care needs (‘care gap’)?

About 23 % – one of the highest in Europe.

Name two labour-market effects of population ageing.

Shrinking labour force and need to adapt workplaces for older employees.

What was the main finding of WHL 2021 about senior care sources?

Family remains the main caregiver; formal services are limited and costly.

Why is non-self- reliant old age called a ‘new social risk’?

It lacks universal social insurance coverage and predictable support.

Explain ‘de-institutionalisation of care’.

Providing support in the community/home environment instead of long-term institutions.

What is the Barthel scale used for?

Assessing functional ability in daily activities for care qualification.

Define ‘social exclusion’.

A multi-dimensional process in which individuals are cut off from resources, rights and participation.

What does the AROPE indicator measure?

Risk of poverty or social exclusion based on income poverty, low work intensity, and severe material deprivation.

Which Polish age group shows the highest AROPE risk?

Youth aged 18–24 years.

Outline the four levels of family support services for children in Poland.

1) Prevention & early help, 2) Community support programs, 3) Foster care, 4) Institutional full-time care (last resort).

What share of child and youth deaths (1–19) in Poland are due to external causes?

Around 50 % (mainly accidents and suicides).

Why are ‘garbage codes’ problematic in mortality statistics?

They denote ill-defined causes, lowering data quality and masking preventable deaths.

What is Life Expectancy at birth?

The average number of years a newborn is expected to live at current mortality rates.

Define Healthy Life Years (HLY).

Expected years lived without disability or severe limitations.

Which method integrates mortality with disability prevalence to compute HLY?

Sullivan’s method.

What does PYLL stand for and indicate?

Potential Years of Life Lost; measures premature mortality below a chosen age (e.g., 70 y).

Which lifestyle factor category has the largest influence on health according to Lalonde?

Lifestyle/behaviour (about 50 %).

State two alarming lifestyle statistics for Poles (2009-2010).

Smoking: 33.5 % men, 21 % women; Overweight/obesity: 61 % men, 45 % women.

Give one central public-health policy implication of lifestyle data.

Need for primary prevention of non-communicable diseases through diet, activity, anti-smoking, etc.

How does long-term unemployment affect ‘ontological security’ (Giddens)?

It undermines personal sense of stability and control over life.

List Jahoda’s latent functions of work that are lost during unemployment.

Time structure, social contacts, collective purpose, status, enforced activity.

Define ‘precariat’.

A social class engaged in insecure, low-paid, non-standard employment lacking protection.

What is ‘autonomous self-exclusion’ in the context of unemployment?

Voluntary withdrawal from social life due to prolonged joblessness and stigma.

Name two Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs).

Training programs and wage subsidies (also counselling, job placements).

How does the shadow economy differ from illegal activity?

Shadow economy = legal goods/services produced informally; illegal = inherently unlawful goods/services.

Approximate size of Poland’s shadow economy according to GUS (2016).

About 11.6 % of GDP.

Identify two sectors with the highest shadow-economy incidence in Poland.

Personal services (e.g., hairdressing, home repairs) and construction.

Give two common causes of shadow-economy participation.

High taxes/social contributions and complex regulations.

What does the MIMIC model estimate?

The size of the hidden economy using multiple-indicator multiple-cause analysis.

Explain the ‘rational choice’ theory of informal work.

Individuals weigh tax burden and detection risk against benefits before choosing informal activity.

Define ‘depopulation’.

Long-term population decline due to low fertility and/or out-migration.

What is the ‘selective outflow’ effect of migration?

Young, educated, mobile people leave, draining human capital from origin regions.

Describe the ‘snowball effect’ in migration.

Earlier migrants facilitate and encourage subsequent migration through networks.

What does the gravity model predict about migration distance?

Migration volume decreases as distance increases, modulated by the ‘friction’ parameter α.

Which Polish city recorded the widest in-migration catchment in GUS 2018 study?

Warsaw.

What is a ‘youth bulge’ and why is it politically relevant?

A large share of 15–24-year-olds that can heighten social unrest if unmet economic expectations persist.

What shape has replaced Poland’s classic age pyramid?

An inverted ‘ice-cone’ with narrow base and wide top (fewer young, more elderly).

What does Hans-Werner Sinn propose to link pensions and fertility?

Tie pension benefits to the number of children raised by the contributor.

Why are cash-only pronatalist incentives (e.g., 500+) considered insufficient?

They do not address structural barriers like childcare, job flexibility, housing, gender balance.

Define ‘open population’ in demography.

A population that experiences migration inflows and outflows in addition to births and deaths.

What are ‘roczniki uderzeniowe’ (shock cohorts)?

Exceptionally large birth cohorts that strain education, labour and social systems when they age.

How is Total Fertility Rate (TFR) calculated?

Sum of age-specific fertility rates in a year, representing average births per woman.

Give one economic consequence of persistent low TFR for a country.

Reduced labour supply leading to slower economic growth and fiscal strain.

State two cultural factors lowering fertility in modern societies.

Individualism and declining influence of religion.

Name three demographic data sources other than censuses.

Civil registration (vital statistics), population registers and survey sampling (e.g., EU-SILC, EHIS).

What is the primary objective of Poland’s National Population and Housing Census (NSP)?

To collect complete, comparable data on people and dwellings for policy, research and international reporting.

Explain ‘parent support ratio’.

Persons aged 85+ per 100 persons aged 50–64, indicating future elder-care pressure on middle-aged children.

What does ‘IV age’ refer to in gerontology?

People aged 85 + who often need daily assistance.

State one main barrier seniors cited for not using formal care services (WHL 2021).

Financial cost (others: limited local availability, lack of information, trust issues).

How many foreigners were registered in Poland’s ZUS system in 2022?

Approximately 1.05 million (around 60 % Ukrainians).

Why is Poland said to lack a coherent migration policy?

Existing measures are ad-hoc, fragmented and not integrated with labour, social or regional policies.

Distinguish between assimilation and integration models of migrant policy.

Assimilation expects migrants to adopt host culture fully; integration seeks full participation while respecting diversity.

What is the ‘intercultural’ (multicultural) model?

State supports coexistence of multiple cultures and encourages dialogue and mutual adaptation.

Define ‘demography potential’.

The influence of population size and structure on a country’s economic and geopolitical power.

List two sub-components of the ‘Healthy Life Years’ indicator collected in MEHM.

Self-perceived health status and activity limitation (GALI measure).

What is ‘PYLL gender gap’ in Poland?

About 70 % of years lost before 70 occur among men, showing male health disadvantage.

Why are elderly women said to “live longer in worse health” than men?

They outlive men but spend a higher proportion of remaining years with disability.

Which four fields of health determinants are identified by Lalonde?

Lifestyle, biology, environment, healthcare system.

What does the term ‘silver economy’ include?

Products & services aimed at older consumers (e.g., assistive tech, leisure, healthcare).

What are ‘gerontotechnologies’?

Technologies such as tele-care that support independent living for seniors.

Explain the ‘quality-quantity trade-off’ (Becker & Lewis).

Parents with more resources may choose fewer children but invest more in each (education, health).

Give one example of a migration ‘push’ factor in rural peripheries.

Lack of employment opportunities (others: limited services, poor infrastructure).

What role do local governments play in migrant integration according to lecture?

They tailor support to local needs and can facilitate housing, education, language and community links.

Explain ‘pronatalist policy’.

Government measures designed to increase birth rates through economic, social and institutional support.