The number of live
births per 1000 of the
population per year
There has been a steady
decline in the number
of births in England and
Wales since 1900
In the UK, the TFR has
risen since 2001, but
it is still much lower
than in the past
Reasons for the
declining birth rate
Change in position of women
Women's attitudes to child-bearing underwent significant change in the
later part of the 20th century. Wilkinson coined the phrase 'genderquake' to
describe the 'radical' difference in attitudes towards family life,
child-bearing, education and careers
Decline in the infant
mortality rate
Babies born today are more likely to survive into adulthood-
women are having fewer children. In 1900, the UK IMR was 154
(15.4% of babies died before they reached 12 months). In 2022
the IMR was. in 2022 there are 3.422 deaths per 1000 live births
Children are now an
economic liability
Laws banning child labour, introduction of
compulsory schooling and raising the leaving
age means that children are economically
dependent on their parents for longer
Child centredness
Golden age of childhood’- this
has encouraged parents to
have fewer children, choosing
quality over quantity
Effects of changes in fertility
The family- smaller size, women
can go out and work, become
more child centred as less
children to focus on
The dependency ratio- If there is a higher number
of the population who are dependent compared
with the working population then there could be
said to be a ‘burden of dependency’
Public services and policies- e.g. fewer
schools, maternity and child services may be
needed, cost of maternity and paternity leave
and the types of houses that need to be built.
Death Rates
The number of deaths
per thousand of the
population per year.
The death rate in the UK
has fallen from 19 in
1900 to 8.9 in 2012
Reasons for the
declining death rate
Improved nutrition
McKeown- better nutrition
increased resistance to
infection and increased the
survival chances of those
who become infected
Medical
After the 1950s improved medical knowledge
technologies and organisations helped to reduce
the death rates e.g. antibiotics, blood transfusions,
maternity services and the NHS 1948
Smoking & diet
Harper- the greatest fall in death rates is simply due to
the reduction in the number of people smoking. The UK
may be moving to an american style health culture of
unhealthy lifestyles accompanied by a lifespan of using
costly medications
Public health measures
Improvements to housing, purer
drinking water, laws to combat the
adulteration of food and drink
Consequences
More one person
households due to
death of a partner
Dependency ratio- more burden
on the working population as
more people 7 retire
Loneliness and isolation- move
pressure on families (may result in
a return to classic extended family)
People work for longer to pay
for retirement- taking jobs
away from young people
Poverty- inadequate wages,
pensions and savings
Life Expectancy
How long on average a
person born in a given
year can expect to live
Professor Mayhew- the gap
between males & females has
reduced in recent decades
Decrease in males
involved in manual
works
Decrease in alcohol/smoking
amongst men
Better healthcare for disease
that are more likely to affect
men e.g. heart disease
Women- generally live
longer than men (gap is
narrowing)
North England & Scotland-
lower life expectancy than in
the South
Working class men-
unskilled jobs are 3x more
likely to die before 65
Class- middle class
have better pensions
(private)
The Ageing Population
Increasing life expectancy - people
are living longer into old age
Declining infant mortality-
in today's society few
people die early in life
Declining fertility fewer young people
are being born in relation to the
number of people getting older in the
population
Advantages
Boosting the economy- Lawton-
economy is supported by the grey
pound e.g. travel & leisure- have
time to do so
Community involvement- Taking Part
Survey- 4.9 mil 65+ participated in
volunteer work, civil engagement
activities
Family support- grandparents
performed household & childcare
tasks- positively effect childhood,
family life & economy
Disadvantages
Shift in the dependency ratio-
increase in the number of
people retiring & relying on
pensions
More poverty and family hardship- Marxists-
taking a pension over paid employment-
substantial drop in income
Pensioner one person households- 1/8 of all
households. "Feminisation of later life" so
women generally live longer than men,
housing shortage so younger people struggle
to get on the property ladder
Ageism- growing negative
stigma towards the old as
well as unequal treatment
of individuals on the basis
of their age
Structured dependency-
made to be economically
dependent
Phillipson (marxist)- the elderly are no
use to capitalism- no longer productive,
so the state is unwilling to support them
Postmodernism
Hunt- consumption
not production now
defines us
‘’Body maintenance’ and
‘rejuvenation’ where people can
recreate their identities
Policy implications- Hirsch- social policy must change in order to tackle
the social problems arising due to the ageing population. People must
be persuaded not to retire early and indeed continue working after
the age of retirement
Migration
The movement of people from place
to place, between areas or societies,
internally or internationally
Immigration is the movement of
people into an area/ society, whereas
emigration refers to movement of
people out of an area/ society
Emigration
Pull factors- such as higher
wages or better opportunities
abroad
Push factors- such as economic
recession and unemployment at
home
Immigration
From 1900- WWII (1939-45), the largest immigrant
group to the UK were the Irish (economic) followed
by Eastern and Central European Jews (refugees)
and people of British descent from Canada and
the USA- very few immigrants were non-white.
1950s- Black immigrants from
the Caribbean began to arrive
in the UK
1960s & 1970s by South Asian
immigrants from India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and by East
African Asians from Kenya and Uganda
Impact of migration
Population size-
increases during
immigration, decreases
during emigration
Age structure- immigration lowers the average age
of the population both directly (immigrants are
generally younger) and indirectly (immigrants are
younger, therefore they’re more fertile and produce
more babies)
Dependency ratio- migrants
are mainly of working age
reduces the dependency ratio
However, immigrant women tend to have higher
fertility rates, which in the short term contributes to a
higher dependency ratio by adding more children to the
population
However, this also reduces the average age of the
population and in due course produces more workers,
thereby lowering the dependency ratio as these
children grow up and reach working age
Globalisation of migration
Barriers between societies are disappearing and people are becoming
increasingly interconnected. Globalisation is the result of factors e.g.
the growth of communication & global media, the creation of a global
market, developments in technologies, and the fall of communism in
Eastern Europe
Acceleration: a speeding up of the rate of
migration.Between 2000-2013 international
migration increased by 33% reaching 232
million (3.2% of the population)
Differentiation: globalisation is increasing the diversity of
the types of migrants. There are a variety of migrants e.g.
permanent settlers, temporary workers, spouses, or
refugees/asylum seekers (forced migrants)
Vertovec- Super-diversity- migrants
come from a wide range of countries
and not just former colonies
Cohen
Citizens- with full
rights e.g. voting and
access to benefits
Denizens- privileged foreign nationals
welcomed by the state, e.g.
billionaires or highly paid employees
of multinational companies
Helots- most exploited
group- states and
employers see them as a
disposable unit of power,
a reserve army of labour
Feminisation of migration
Female migrants are fitting into patriarchal
stereotypes about women’s roles as carers or
providers of sexual service
Ehrenrich and Horchschild
observed in western culture
migrant women provided care
work, domestic work, and sex work
Expansion of service
occupations such as
healthcare
Western women have joined the
workforce making them less willing
to perform domestic labour
Western men remain unwilling
to perform domestic labour
Failure from the state
to provide adequate
child care
Migrant identity
Hybrid identity- made up of
two or more different sources
Second generation Bangladesh Muslims
in Britain create a hierarchical identity-
viewed themselves as Muslim 1st,
Bengali 2nd, and British 3rd
Eriksen- globalisation has created more diverse migrant
patterns, back and forth movement rather than permanent
settlement- transnational identity migrants are less likely to
see themselves as belonging to one culture or country
Politicisation of migration
Multicultural policies
2010 Equality Act was implemented in law to
prevent discrimination against 9 protected
characteristics including race and ethnicity
Castle- argued assimilation policies are
counter- productive as they mark out minority
groups as culturally ‘backwards’ or ‘othered’
Divided working class- assimilation encourages workers to blame migrants
for social problems e.g. unemployment resulting in racist scapegoating