Lesson 2: Demographic Terms and Population Control Policies

Lesson Content Population characteristics: Crude birth rate, crude death rate, natural increase rate Age specific measures: total fertility rates, infant mortality rates, Family planning methods: Birth control programs Contraceptive use China’s One-Child program Increasing female literacy Population structure: population pyramid, dependency ratio, life expectancy

Population Characteristics: Crude Birth Rates (2008) Fig. 2-8: The crude birth rate (CBR) is the total number of births in a country per 1000 population per year. The lowest rates are in Europe, and the highest rates are in Africa and several Asian countries.

Population Characteristics: Crude Death Rates Fig. 2-12: The crude death rate (CDR) is the total number of deaths in a country per 1000 population per year. Because wealthy countries are in a late stage of the Demographic Transition, they often have a higher CDR than poorer countries. Crude Death Rate: the total number of deaths in a year for every 1000 people alive in the society What are the societal impacts of a low crude death rate, high crude death rate? What would have been the impact 50 years ago, 100 years ago? If people are dying before they reach old age – society will have less productive workers (common in Africa during AIDs crisis, or in countries at war, etc..). If productivity falls, children may receive less education because they have to go work. Low death rates – countries where people live to old age – have different challenges – paying for care of seniors, will hopefully have more productive workers (not always the case – i.e. Japan)

Population Characteristics: World Death Rates Infectious diseases: i.e.HIV/AIDS and Swine Flu Degenerative diseases: i.e. cancer or heart disease Obesity Tobacco use What are other contributing factors?

Population Characteristics: Natural Increase Natural Increase: the percentage of growth in a population. It is measured by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate. Remember this does not take into account other factors leading to population size, such as migration.

Age Specific Measures: Total Fertility Rates ( ) Fig. 2-9: The Total fertility rate (TFR) is the number of children an average woman in a society will have through her childbearing years. The lowest rates are in Europe, and the highest are in Africa and parts of the Middle East. 7-8 kids 6-7 kids 5-6 kids 4-5 kids 3-4 kids 2-3 kids 1-2 kids 0-1 kids

Age-Specific Measures: Infant Mortality Rates (2008)

New Influences on Birth Rates Family planning programs Contraceptive technology Role of mass media What are other influences?

Population Control Obstacles Religion Low female status Preference for male children Others?

Use of Family Planning: Percent Contraceptive Use by Country (latest UN Data) Fig. 2-22: Both the extent of family planning use and the methods used vary widely by country and culture.

Doubling Time How long will it take for a population of a given area to double in size? Doubling time assumes the population will grow at a given annual rate Approximated by dividing the annual rate of population into 70 World = 50 U.S. = 35 MDC = 550 LDC = 40 Honduras = 22 Denmark = 700 Russia = never? Example: Bangladesh 70/R.N.I. => 70/2.09 = 33.5 years Bangladesh with a population of million people in 2005 will have approximately million people in 2038, if the population continues to grow at current rates.

Promoting One-Child Policy in China Announced in 1980 Nearly two thirds of all Chinese couples are still required to have only one child. Before it started, China halve the number of children per woman from 5.8 in 1970 to 2.7 in Sex ratio: 120 boys for every 100 girls today China’s only children generation will be the sole caretakers of their aging parents, and will pay for the rising government costs for future pension, health care, and social welfare benefits associated with an increasingly aging population.

Population Pyramid: Haiti

Population Pyramid: Italy

Population Pyramid: USA

Population Structure: Life Expectancy (2011)

Population Structure: Life Expectancy Indicator of overall quality of life Contributing factors, infant mortality rate, antibiotics/immunization What other factors can you name? Trends: A rapid increase throughout world. Why?