Birth rates
The study of populations and their characteristics is called demography.
These characteristics include:
• Size
• Age structure
• Births
• Deaths
• Immigration
• Emigration
Family and population are closely linked. For example, new members of the population are mostly born into and raised by families, while the kind of care they receive from their family affects their chances of survival. Also, when people migrate from country to country or from region to region they often rely on kin to help their move.
The study of populations and their characteristics is called demography. These characteristics include:
➢ SIZE: is the population large or small, growing or declining?
➢ AGE STRUCTURE: is the average age of the population rising or falling?
The factors that most directly affect the size of the country’s population are: ➢ BIRTHS: how many babies are born
➢ DEATHS: how many people die
➢ IMMIGRATION: how many people enter the country from elsewhere
➢ EMIGRATION: how many people leave the country to live elsewhere. In 1801 Britain had a population of 10.5 million
By 1901 - 37 million The current population is approximately 65 million. It is projected to rise to 71 million by 2031
Until the 1980s, UK population growth was largely the product of natural change - that is more births than deaths. Since the 1980s, most of the growth has come from net migration - the total number of people immigrating (entering the country) after emigration (leaving the country) has been deducted.
Birth RatesThe Birth Rate is defined as the number of live births per 1000 of the population per year.
• There has been a long term decline in the number of births in the UK.
In 2012 1 in 5 women aged 45 were childless
• There have been fluctuations in the birth rate, which increased with a ‘baby boom’ after both the First and Second World Wars in 1920 and 1945.
Fertility Rates
• Fertility has been below the level required to replace the population since 1973 in England and since 1974 in Wales ad Scotland
• Due to the decline in birth rate there is also a decline in fertility rate
• Women are choosing to have fewer children
• The fertility rate rose to 1.9 in 2009 due to patterns of immigration as migrant families tend to have more children and larger families
• The recent rise is also due to older women having more babies, sometimes with the use of reproductive technologies such as IVF
Decline in IMR
The infant mortality rate measures the number of infants who die before their first birthday, per thousand babies born alive per year.
Harper argues that the fall in the IMR leads to a fall in the birth rate. If more infants die, parents have more children to replace those who they lost. In contrast, if more survive they will have less.
In 1900 the IMR was 154 with over 15% of babies dying in their first year, it now stands at 4. The IMR has fell due to the following reasons:
• Improved housing
• Better sanitation and nutrition
• Clean drinking water
• Medical advances e.g. vaccines
• Knowledge of hygiene and children’s health
• Fall in number of married women working may have improved health of child
• Improved services for mothers
• Increase in welfare state means children no longer needed for security in old age
Economic Cost
Children used to be economic assets until the end of the 19th century as they could work and bring in additional income for the family. They are now an economic liability
due to:
- Laws banning child labour, introducing compulsory schooling and raising school leaving age has meant they remain dependent for longer
- Changing norms about what children can expect from parents
Child Centredness
Attitudes towards childhood have changed. We now consider childhood a unique and important period of life. This has shifted the focus from quantity to quality – parents give more time and effort into their fewer children
Consequences of Changes in Fertility
The Dependency Ratio The relationships between the economically productive part of the population and non- workers, or dependents such as children and older people.Initially with less children this reduces the dependent population and reduces the burden on the working population. However, this will mean less adults later and smaller working population which could increase dependency.
Public Services and Policies
Schools may have to close as a result of falling numbers but could save the country money on maternity and paternity pay alongside child health services.There will be less children supporting their parents as they grow elderly so more strain on hospitals and the care sector
Family-Falling fertility rates could lead to smaller families and further changes in gender roles. With less children, this allows women more time for their careers and leads to relationships between men and women becoming more equal within dual earner family.There is also the issue of vanishing children which could alter the experience of childhood into a more lonely experience.
Reasons:
Changes in the position of women.
Harper - girls now have higher aspirations due to more opportunities in education. As a result, girls’ priorities are changing to wanting a career, as they now see other possibilities in life, rather than the traditional role of housewife and mother. Due to this, women are delaying having children to pursue a career, or not having children at all.
Children are now an economic liability
Due to child protection laws such as laws banning child labour and compulsory education until the age of 18, children are no longer economic assets as they are unable to be sent out to work from an early age to earn an income. As a result, it is becoming more expensive to raise children as they have gradually become an economic liability. Therefore, due to these financial pressures, parents are less able/ willing to have a large family.
This has led to a rise in child-centeredness as parents would prefer to spend more on the few children they do have, in order to give them a better quality of life
Impact
The dependency ratio increases. The dependent population are reliant on the working population for support. The birth rate declining means that there will be a smaller working population in the future and so the burden of dependency will rise
Less need for as many public services such as schools, as there are fewer children, less schools may be required so some schools may close, fewer teachers required, and job losses.
More women may be free to work as family size decreases
The factors determining the birth rate are:
• The proportion of women who are of childbearing age (aged 15-44)
• How fertile they are (i.e. how many children they have).
The total fertility rate (TFR) is the average number of children women will have during their fertile years.
The UK’s TFR has risen in recent years, but is still much lower than in the past. According to the office for national statistics (ONS), the UK’s TFR was 1.83 in 2014, much lower than its peak of 2.95 children per woman in 1964 during the 1960s baby boom.
These changes in fertility and birth rates reflect the fact that:
➢ More women are remaining childless than in the past
➢ Women are postponing having children: the average age for giving birth is now 29.4 and fertility rates for women in their 30s and 40s are on the increase. Older women may be less fertile and have fewer fertile years remaining and so they produce fewer children.
REASONS FOR THE DECLINE IN THE BIRTH RATE
1. Changes in the position of women
The major changes include:
• Legal equality with men- e.g. the right to vote, laws against unequal pay and sex discrimination.
• Increased educational opportunities- girls now do better than boys in school
• More women in paid employment
• Changes in attitudes to family life and women’s role
• Easier access to divorce
• Access to abortion and reliable contraception
So, women now see other possibilities in life apart from the traditional role of housewife and mother. Many are choosing to delay childbearing or not to have children at all in order to pursue a career.
According to Harper (2012), the education of women is the most important reason for the long-term fall in birth and fertility rates. Not only are educated women more likely to use family planning, they now see other possibilities in life apart from the traditional housewife and mother. This means that women are delaying childbearing or are choosing not to have children at all. For example, in 2012 one in five women aged 45 was childless- double the number 25 years earlier.
Harper also notes that once a pattern of low fertility lasts for more than a generation, cultural norms about family size change and smaller families become the norm.
2. Decline in the infant mortality rate
The infant mortality rate (IMR) measures the number of infants who die before their first birthday, per thousand babies born alive per year.
Harper argues that a fall in the IMR leads to a fall in the birth rate. This is because if many infants die parents have more children to replace those they have lost, thus increasing the birth rate. In contrast, if infants survive, parents will have fewer of them.
In 1900 the IMR for the UK was 154. This meant that over 15% of babes died within their 1st year. This was higher than those of less developed countries today. For example, in 2014 the world’s highest estimated IMR was that of Afghanistan at 117.
During the first half of the 20th century (1900-1950) the UK’s IMR began to fall for several reasons:
• Improved housing and better sanitation such as flush toilets and clean drinking water reduced infectious disease.
• Better nutrition, including that of mothers.
• Better knowledge of hygiene, child health and welfare, often spread via
Think about it: Research Sue Sharpe’s 70s/90s study. How would this impact the birth rate? Why?
women’s magazines.
• A fall in the number of married women working may have improved their health and that of their babies.
• Improved services for mothers and children such as antenatal and postnatal clinics.
• Increase in the welfare state means less parents no longer need children as security as they used to when they relied on their children to look after them in old age.
1950s Onwards
Medical factors began to play a greater role. For example, mass immunisation against childhood diseases such as whooping cough, diphtheria and later measles, the use of antibiotics, improved midwifery.
As a result of the above developments by 1950 the UK’s IMR was 30 and by 2012 it stood at 4.
3. Economic cost of children
Until the late 19th century, children were economic assets as they could work and bring in additional income for the family. However, since then they have become an economic liability.
• LAWS banning child labour, introducing compulsory schooling and raising the school leaving age mean that children remain economically dependent on their parents for longer and longer.
• CHANGING NORMS about what children have a right to expect from their parents means that the cost of bringing up children has risen.
4. Child Centredness
Attitudes towards childhood have changed considerably. We now consider it a uniquely important period in an individual’s life. This has encouraged a shift from
AO3: Evaluation – Brass and Kabir argue that the fall in IMR wasn’t what led to a fall in birth rates. They evidence the fact that the trend to smaller family size began in the urban areas where the IMR remained higher for longer compared with rural areas where IMR was lower but family sizes remained.
quantity’ to ‘quality’- parents now have fewer children and lavish more attention and resources on these few.
Think about it: Are there examples from your own life of the ways in which your parents have invested time and money in you?
What about the future?
There has been a slight increase in the birth rate since 2001. One reason for this is the increase in immigration because, on average, mothers from outside the UK have a higher fertility rate than those born in the UK. Babies born to mothers outside of the UK accounted for 25% of all births in 2011. The projection for the future is, however, a fairly consistent birth rate.
What are the effects/consequences of changes in fertility? • The family
Smaller families mean that women are more likely to be free to go out to work, thus creating the dual earner couple typical of many professional families. Those with more money can still afford childcare with larger families, allowing them to work full time.
• The dependency ratio
The dependency ratio is the relationship between the size of the working or productive part of the population and the size of the non-working or dependent part of the population.
The earnings, savings and taxes of the working population must support the dependent population. Children make up a large part of the dependent population so a fall in the number of children reduces the burden of dependency on the working population.
However, in the longer term, fewer babies being born will mean fewer young adults and a smaller working population and so the burden of dependency may begin to increase again.
Vanishing children: Falling fertility rates mean fewer children. As a result, childhood may become a lonelier experience as fewer children will have siblings,
and more childless adults mean fewer voices speaking up in support of children’s interests. However, fewer children could mean they will become more valued.
• The public services and policies
Fewer schools, maternity and child health services will be needed. It also affects
the cost of housing and maternity/paternity leave.
However, these are political decisions and so it depends on how the government responds, they may for example, decide to have smaller class sizes rather than fewer schools.
Unlike in modern society, consumption, not production, becomes the key to our identities. We can now define ourselves by what we consume. As Hunt argues,this means we can choose a lifestyle and identity regardless of age. Our age no longer determines who we are or how we live.
Lawton argues that the ‘grey pound’ makes an important contribution to leisure and culture industries. As a result, the old become a market for a vast range of ‘body maintenance’ and ‘rejuvenation’ goods and services through which they can create their identities. These include cosmetic surgery, exercise equipment, gym memberships and antiaging products.
These trends begin to break down the ageist stereotypes found in modern society. Two other features of postmodern society also undermine old age as a stigmatised stage:
1. The centrality of the media – Media images now present positive aspects and lifestyles of the elderly
2. The emphasis on surface features – the body becomes a surface on which we can write identities. Anti-ageing products allow the old to write different identities for themselves.
Inequality among the old
However, while the orderly stages of the life course may have been broken down somewhat, Pilcher argues that inequalities such as class and gender remain important many of these are related to the individual’s previous occupational position.
Class – the middle class have better occupational pensions and greater savings from higher salaries. Poorer old people have a shorter life expectancy and suffer more infirmity.
Gender – Women’s lower earnings and career breaks as carers mean lower pensions. They are also subject to sexist as well as ageist stereotyping, for example being described as ‘old hags’.
Postmodernists understate the importance of such inequalities. These are related to the structure of wider society and they play a major part in sharing the experience of old age, often restricting the freedom of the elderly to choose an identity through their consumption.