Demography

Demography

1. what is demography?

   • demography is the study of characteristics of human population such as their size and structure and how these change overtime
   • demographic changes in the UK include
     • > declining birth rate, fertility rate, infant mortality rate, death rate, increased life expectancy and an ageing population

2. birth rate

   • number of live births per 1000 of the population per year
   • why its declining?
     • changes in the position of women, decline in infant mortality rate, children becoming an economic liability and child centredness

3. Death rate

   • number of deaths per 1000 of the population per year
   • why its declining
     • improved nutrition, medical improvements, public health measures, environmental improvements and other social changes

4. life expectancy

   • refers to how long on average a person is given to live
   • death rates have fallen so life expectancy is longer
   • class, gender and regional differences may affect this

5. ageing population

   • a population where the average age is getting higher with a greater proportion of the population over retirement age and a smaller proportion of young people
   • effects of this are
     • public services being overused, one person pensioner households, the dependency ration increase

6. migration

   • migration refers to movement of people place to place, this can be internal, within a society or international
     • immigration> movement into a country, emigration> movement out of a country
     • net migration> difference between the numbers immigrating and the numbers emigrating and is expressed as net in/decrease due to migration