Geography- Population

Geography- Population

1. Growth

   • Birth rate: The number of live babies born per 1000 people per year.
   • Death rate: The number of deaths per 1000 people per year.
   • When the birth rate is higher than death rate- natural increase.
   • Natural decrease- when the death rate is higher than the birth rate.
   • Migration- movement of people from one area to another.

2. Impacts

   • Political
     • Most of the population is made up of young people, the government will focus on policies that are important to young people i.e education and childcare.
     • Fewer old people so the government doesn't need to focus on things i.e Pensions.
     • Government i.e China make policies to bring population growth under control.
   • Social
     • Services like healthcare and education can't cope with the rapid increase in population so not everyone has access to them.
     • Children work to help support their large families, so they miss out on education.
     • There aren't enough houses for everyone, so people are forced to make makeshift houses in overcrowded settlements. This causes house problems due to lack of sanitation and running water.
     • There are food shortages if the country can not grow or import enough food.
   • Economic
     • There aren't enough jobs for the population, so unemployment increases.
     • Increased poverty, more children born into families that are already poor.

3. Strategies

   • Birth control programmes aim to reduce the birth rate, they are given free contraception and sex education.This helps towards sustainable development.
   • Immigration laws aim to control people moving to a country to live there permanently. Limiting the number of people allowed to enter a country, they can also be selective on the age of people they let in.

4. DMT (Demographic Transitional Model.)

   • Stage 1: High birth rate- no contraception, lots of children born- high infant fatality rate, high death rate- poor healthcare, low life expectancy.
   • Stage 2: High birth rate- no contraception, lot of children to work on farms (economy based on agriculture), death rate fall- improvements in healthcare, Population growth rate is high, life expectancy has increased.
   • Stage 5: Birth rate is slowly falling- less money for kids as more dependent elderly relatives, death rate is low and fluctuating, population growth is negative, more old people than young.
   • Stage 4: Low birth rate- urbanisation (improved wealth means less money for kids), low death rate, no growth rate, life expectancy is high.
   • Stage 3: rapid fall in birth rate- women have a more equal place in society, Increased use of contraception and less need for kids to work on farms, death rate fall- medical advances, population growth rate is high, more people live to be older.

5. Ageing population

   • Stage 5 of the DMT.
     • Dependent on 16-64.
   • Economic
     • Working pay tax which fund pensions and pay fro healthcare and retirement homes. Taxes would need to go up.
     • Less money spent on things that cause the economy to grow i.e. educational and business.
   • Social
     • Healthcare services are stretched more.
     • People spend more as unpaid carers, meaning working population have less leisure time and are more stressed and worried.
     • Fewer children as they can't afford them- decrease in birth-rate.
     • People will retire later as they can't afford state pension.
   • Strategies
     • Encourage larger families- Italian women paid. Number of young people, larger working population.
     • Encourage immigration of young people.
     • Raise retirement age, to contribute towards personal and state pensions longer.
     • Raising taxes for the working population, increase amount of money available.

6. CHINA

   • Largest population- Over 1.3bn
   • 1979- 'One child policy'
     • Prevented up to 400 million births, the fertility rate from 5.7 (1970) to 1.8.
     • Older policies- leaving longer gaps between kids more effective but people only want 1 child as they are richer now.
   • One child benefits: Longer maternity leave, better housing and free education. Multiple child loss: Fined and don't get any benefits.
   • Exceptions: In rural areas can have a 2nd if 1st is girl of has a physical disability (still needed to work on farms), if one parent has a disability or if both the parents are single children can have a 2nd to look after parents.

7. INDONESIA

   • Made up of 1000's of islands, 240 million people.
   • Not even distribution- 130 million on Java.
   • Social and economic problems on densely populated islands, lack of services and housing, unemployment and poverty.
   • 1960's 'transmigration policy, aimed to reduce the impact of population growth.
     • Moved from Java to Sumatra.
   • Effectiveness.
     • Millions have moved but population isn't much more evenly distributed.
     • Not all have escaped poverty- if they didn't have skills to farm or the land wasn't good enough.
     • Conflict between natives and migrants.
   • Hasn't helped towards sustainable development as the population is still increasing.