SECTION 10-2 POPULATION AGE STRUCTURE

What is age structure? Age structure – the distribution of males and females in each age group Diagram made by demographers Plot the % or #s of males & females in each of 3 age categories 3 Age Categories Prereproductive = Ages 0-14 Reproductive = Ages Postreproductive = Ages 45+

Population Histograms The following slide shows constructed Population Histograms Notice their structure In creating these histograms, one starts from the center line, and draws the “bar” out from that line Male data is to the left of the center line Female data is to the right of the center line

Major factor that determines population growth? # of people under age 15! WHY????? Because a large number of females are moving into their reproductive years The birth rate will increase (unless the death rates rise sharply)

Population Histograms The next slide shows population histograms from France and India Notice how, in India, tweens / teenagers are the biggest groups on that histogram! (Approx 5.5 – 6% of the population) The same is true in France! While not the largest group, teenagers make up approximately 4 % of the population (The only group that’s larger than teenagers are the 30- somethings!)

Boom or Bust? Population booms & busts both cause problems Baby boom population After WWII ( ) Addition of 79 million people to the population Baby bust Between When the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) decreased dramatically (people were having less children)

Population booms & busts both cause problems Problems with declining population Baby boom generation is retiring: Smaller workforce (shortage of workers) Not enough money from taxes to support boomers (baby bust generation will suffer…will have higher income, healthcare, Social Security taxes) Trouble funding pensions Increase retirement age, raise taxes, etc

Population booms & busts both cause problems At the same time…baby bust group has an easier time (than baby boomers): Less people competing for education opportunities, jobs and services Wages are higher due to labor shortages Many baby bust group members may find it difficult to get job promotions when they hit middle age because: Baby boomers will be upper level management Baby boomers may delay retirement (if they’re in good health) or need to accumulate more funds for retirement

Who comes after the baby bust generation? The echo-boom generation Individuals born since 1977 These predictions (baby boomers / busters) tell us that ANY booms or busts in the age structure of a population will create social & economic changes that can cause problems throughout a society for decades

Effects of Rapid Population Decline Ex: Increase in death rate due to AIDS Globally between 2000 and 2050, AIDS is projected to cause the premature deaths of 278 million people in 53 countries – 38 of them Africa. These premature deaths are almost equal to the entire current population of the United States.

AIDS TRAGEDY Harmful effects Drop in life expectancy Loss of productive workforce Loss of trained professionals Increase in # of orphans What can be done? Reduce spread of HIV through education & health care Financial assistance to pay for the workers Is this our responsibility?