Demographics Summary Note

Demographics Summary Sheet

Demography

  • Definition: The scientific study of human populations, including their size, composition, distribution, and changes over time through births, deaths, and migration.

Key Definitions

  • Birth Rate:

    • Definition: The number of live births per 1,000 people in a population in a given year.

  • Death Rate:

    • Definition: The number of deaths per 1,000 people in a population in a given year.

  • Natural Increase:

    • Definition: Occurs when the birth rate exceeds the death rate, resulting in population growth.

    • Calculation: Natural Increase = Birth Rate - Death Rate.

  • Natural Decrease:

    • Definition: Occurs when the death rate exceeds the birth rate, resulting in a population decline.

  • Population Growth Rate:

    • Definition: The percentage at which a population increases or decreases in a year, incorporating natural increase and net migration.

  • Doubling Time:

    • Definition: The number of years it takes for a population to double in size, assuming a constant growth rate.

    • Calculation: Doubling Time ≈ \frac{70}{\text{Growth Rate}}.

  • Net Migration:

    • Definition: The difference between the number of people entering a country (immigrants) and those leaving (emigrants).

  • Internal Migration:

    • Definition: Movement of people within the same country, e.g., moving from Nova Scotia to Alberta.

  • Immigrate & Immigrant:

    • Immigrate: To move into a new country to settle permanently.

    • Immigrant: The person performing this action.

  • Rural:

    • Definition: Areas located outside cities and towns, characterized by low population density and agricultural land.

  • Urban:

    • Definition: Areas related to cities or towns, characterized by high population density and infrastructure.

  • Suburban:

    • Definition: Residential areas on the outskirts of a city; a mix of urban and rural characteristics.

  • Urbanization:

    • Definition: The process by which an increasing percentage of a population relocates to live in cities and towns rather than rural areas.

  • Density:

    • Definition: The number of people living in a specific area, e.g., people per square kilometer.

  • Distribution:

    • Definition: The pattern of where people live across a specific area, e.g., dispersed, concentrated, or linear.

Historical Context

  • The Industrial Revolution:

    • Description: A period of rapid social and economic change starting in the late 1700s, shifting from hand tools to power-driven machinery, triggering mass urbanization and a drop in death rates.

  • Dependency Load:

    • Definition: The segment of the population not in the workforce (typically children under 15 and seniors over 65) relying on the working-age population for support.

  • Total Fertility Rate (TFR):

    • Definition: The average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime.

  • Replacement Rate:

    • Definition: The TFR required for a population to exactly replace itself from one generation to the next without migration (typically around 2.1 children per woman).

  • Demographic Trap:

    • Definition: A situation where a developing country’s population grows faster than its economic development, hindering progress to the next stage of the Demographic Transition Model (DTM).

Migration Dynamics

  • Emigrate & Emigrant:

    • Emigrate: To leave one's country to settle in another.

    • Emigrant: The person departing.

  • Push Factor:

    • Definition: Negative conditions prompting people to leave their current location (e.g., war, famine, lack of jobs).

  • Pull Factor:

    • Definition: Positive conditions attracting people to a new location (e.g., better wages, safety, freedom).

  • Refugee:

    • Definition: A person forced to leave their country due to war, persecution, or natural disaster.

Immigration Policy

  • The Points System:

    • Definition: A selection process used by countries (like Canada) to evaluate potential immigrants based on education, age, language skills, and work experience.

Population Models

  • Demographic Transition Model (DTM):

    • Description: A model that illustrates how populations change over time as countries develop, moving from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates.

Analysis Tools

Population Pyramids

  • Definition: A specialized bar graph representing the distribution of a population by age groups and sex.

    • Vertical Axis (Y-axis): Age groups (cohorts) in five-year increments (e.g., 0–4, 5–9, 10–14).

    • Horizontal Axis (X-axis): Population size or percentage.

    • Split Center: Graph divided, with males on the left and females on the right.

  • **Shapes of Population Pyramids:

    • Expansive (Wide base):** Indicates high birth rates and a young population, common in developing nations.

    • Constrictive (Narrow base): Indicates declining birth rates and an aging population, common in Stage 4 or 5 countries like Japan or Germany.

    • Stationary (Rectangular shape): Indicates stable birth and death rates, with generations similar in size.

Theories of Population Growth

Thomas Malthus

  • Overview: English economist and demographer known for his pessimistic view on population growth, outlined in his 1798 work, An Essay on the Principle of Population.

  • Key Concepts:

    • Population Growth: Argues that human populations grow geometrically (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, …), doubling every 25 years if left unchecked.

    • Food Production: Proposed that food production only grows arithmetically (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, …), due to finite land.

    • Malthusian Catastrophe: The point where population exceeds food supply leading to a catastrophic result.

    • Carrying Capacity: Maximum number of people that an environment can support indefinitely without degrading resources.

Neo-Malthusian Perspectives

  • Overshoot:

    • Definition: When a population exceeds its carrying capacity, leading to resource depletion and potential population crash.

  • Variables Affecting Carrying Capacity:

    • Human carrying capacity is influenced by factors like standard of living and technology.

    • Example: 1,000 people in a high-consumption lifestyle require a larger carrying capacity than those in a low-consumption lifestyle.

  • Spaceship Theory:

    • Introduced by Kenneth Boulding and Buckminster Fuller, portraying Earth as a closed system with finite resources.

Contemporary Views on Population

Paul Ehrlich

  • Book: The Population Bomb which posits that population growth will outpace food production resulting in global disaster.

  • Warnings: Stated that by the 1970s, mass starvation would occur despite interventions.

  • Advocacy: Suggested controversial population control measures, including government-mandated family planning and tax penalties for larger families.

  • The Green Revolution: Agricultural advances that increased crop yields and prevented starvation.

Cornucopian Thesis

  • Definition: Optimistic counter-argument to Malthusian theories, suggesting human ingenuity will find solutions to resource limitations.

  • Key Points:

    • Humans as 'Ultimate Resource': Belief that more people equate to more innovation and problem-solving.

    • Technology's Role: Rising scarcity leads to better resource efficiency and alternative resource sourcing (e.g., transition from whale oil to kerosene).

Noteworthy Opposition and Alternative Theories

  • Ester Boserup:

    • Danish economist and Cornucopian theorist arguing population drives agricultural innovation.

    • Key Phrase: "Necessity is the mother of invention."

  • Hans Rosling:

    • Used data to challenge overpopulation myths and emphasized the relationship between poverty reduction and fertility rates.

    • Peak Child Concept: Noticed world's number of children peaked in 2000; remains stable as populations age.

  • Ongoing Population Issues in Canada:

    • Aging population, international students, and various demographic challenges.