Demography

Birth Rate

Birth rate - number of live births per 1000 of the population per year.
- long-term decline in birth rate (1900 = 29, 2014 = 12.2)
- fluctuations e.g. baby boom after both wars & in 1960s.
Fertility rate - average no. of children a woman has in fertile years (15-44).
- reached 2.95 during 1960 baby boom & declined to 1.63 in 2001 (lowest), increased to 1.83 in 2014.
- more women are remaining childless now.
- women are having children later (average age is now over 30).
Reasons for decreased birth rate:
- Changes in the position of women - increased educational opportunities, more women working, changes in attitudes to family life, easier access to divorce, access to abortion & contraception.
- Fall in the infant mortality rate - in 1900 it was 154, in 2016 it was 4, better medical care, nutrition, sanitation.
- Children as an economic liability - child abuse laws, compulsory schooling so are economically dependent for longer, changing norms.
- Child-centeredness - childhood is now socially constructed as an important period of life & children must be protected.
Effects of a falling birth rate:
- women are freer to go out to work, creating a dual-earner couple.
- lower dependency ratio as fewer children.
- fewer public services are needed e.g. schools & child health services.

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The number deaths has been fairly stable since 1900 (600,000 per year) but fluctuated during wars & 1918 flu endemic.
Death rate - number of deaths per thousand of the population per year (it has halved from 19 in 1900 to 8.9 in 2012).
Reasons:
- deaths from infectious diseases e.g. TB, measles, smallpox etc.
- improved nutrition (McKeown)
- medical improvements
- public health improvements e.g. housing, water.
- social changes e.g. less manual occupations.
Life expectancy - how long on average a person born in a given year can expect to live. It has greatly increaed since 1900:
- those born in 1900, it was 50 for males & 57 for females.
- those born in 2013, it was 90.7 for males & 94 females.
- low life expectancy in 1900 was largely due to the high infant mortality rate, when this fell, life expectancy rose.

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Increasing life expectancy, low infant mortality, declining fertility.
Effects:
- More public services are needed e.g. health & social care.
- More one-person pensioner houselholds.
- Rising dependency ratio.
- Ageism.
Hirsch - will need new policies to finance a longer old age; this could be done by paying more taxes or by raising retirement age.

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Old age in modern society - life is structured into fixed age stages & identities; our identity & status are determined by our role in production (those with a dependent staus are excluded from this).
Old age in postmodern society - fixed stages of the life course have broken down giving individuals greater choise of lifestyle, whatever their age. Hunt argues that we can choose an identity regardless of age.
Inequality among the old:
- the middle class have higher pensions & savings so a longer life expectancy.
- women's lower earnings & role as carers mean lower pensions & are subject to sexist stereotyping.

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Immigration:
- From 1900 to the 1940s, the largest immiagrant groups in the Uk were Irish, European Jews and people of British descnet from Canada & USA.
- During the 1950s-70s, non-white immigrants from the Caribbean, Africa & South Asia arrived, accounting for 14% of the population.
Emigration:
- Since 1900, most emigrants have gone to the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand & South Africa.
- 'Push' factors e.g. unemployment & economic recession.
- 'Pull' factors e.g. higher wages & better opportunities.

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Differentiation:
- Different types of migrants who have different legal entitlements.
- Super-diversity - migrants now come from many countries.
- Class differences between migrants, Cohen distinguishes:
  - Citizens - have full rights.
  - Denizens - privileged foreign nationals.
  - Helots - disposable labour power.
Feminisation of migration - almost half of global migrants are female who are given stereotyped roles as carers.
Migrant Identities:
- May develop hybrid identities from other sources so may have difficulty fitting in.
- Transnational identities - globalisation creates back & forth movements of people through networks so belong to multiple nationals (Eriksen).
Migration and Politics:
- Assimilation - adopt language, values & customs of host culture - Castles sees this as counter-prouctive as minority groups are marked as 'other' & differences are emphasised.
- Multiculturalism - acceptance of separate cultural identity but superficial.
- A divided working class - encourages workers to blame migrants for problems e.g. unemployment so benefits capitalism.

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