Demography

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Ageing population

  • In 1971 the average age of the population was approx 34 years, it rose to 40 in 2013. 
  • Causes
  • Increased life expectancy - In the 1900's it was 47 for men & 50 for women, today it is 79 for men & 83 for women.
  • Declining infant mortality - In 1984 there were 9.6 deaths per 1000 births, in 2016 it was 3.6.
  • Declining fertility - The rise in contraception, the pill (1960's) & abortion rights (1967). 
  • Advantages
  • Rise in economy - Those aged 65-74 contribute to the leisure & culture industries by spending money, e.g, museums, travel, tourism & galleries.
  • Community involvement - 4.9m over 65's took part in volunteering in 2013-14.
  • Less crime - The law are more law abiding than the young, societies with more elderly have lower crime rates.
  • Unpaid childcare - The elderly provide family support by doing 8hrs of childcare a week.
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The effects of an ageing population

  • Increased dependency ratio - Working population must pay higher tazes, around 1/2 of the state welfare budget in used on the elderly. 
  • They occupy 1/2 of the 'bed days' in hospital, using up spaces needed for emergency accidents.
  • They used 60% of the 1b drugs pescribed in 2013.
  • Poverty - In 2013 1.6m pensioners were living below the poverty line, because in a capitalist society labour power means money for a decent living. 
  • Phillipson (Marxist); the old are no longer useful to capitalism, meaning the state is no longer willing to support them. 
  • Leading to family hardship as the young must support the elderly as well as their children & themselves, 'structured dependency'.
  • Pilcher; m/c have better pensions, w/c have shorter life expectancy, women have lower pensions & are subject to ageist/sexist stereotyping. 
  • Pensioner one-person households - The elderly face isolation & loneliness, children often aren't around so the pressure is put on local authorities & social services. 
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The effects of an ageing population pt2

  • Ill health & disability - Alzheimers, heart disease, mental/physical health problems or mobility issues & difficulties in accessing public facilities, cause rising costs for the NHS.
  • Family stress - Emotional strain & overcrowing cause conflict between families due to increasing costs. 
  • More work for women - Feminists; 25% of women aged 50-64 take care of ill/old relatives, comapared to 17% of men.
  • Housing shortages - Young people can't find affordable homes bc old live in them. Hirsch; the government needed to finance old age by changing the retirement age & encouraging the old to 'trade down' houses to free up space for young people. 
  • Hirsch; old age is a social construct, cultural change is needed in our attitudes towards it, in order to change policy. 
  • Hunt (postmodernist); individuals have greater choices of lifestyle whatever their age because 'fixed age related identities' have broken down, it leads to products of rejuvenation, trying to de-stigmatise old age. 
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Migration

  • Immigration - During the 1950's black immigrants from the Caribbean arrived in the UK, followed in the 1960's & 70's by South Asian immigrants & East African Asians.
  • Reasons for emigration - Economic recession & unemployment at home (push factors), higher wages & better opportunities abroad (pull factors).
  • Family life - More matrifocal Caribbean families, larger families in inner city areas (increased poverty) & larger extended families amonst Indian, Pakistani & Bangladeshi familes, which reflect family patterns in their countries. 
  • The population size of the UK has grown, births to non-UK mothers are higher, which has lowered the average age but lowered the dependency ratio because there are more workers yet more children. 
  • Globalisation has led to an acceleration in the rate of migration, between 2000 & 2013 international migration increased by 33%. 
  • Vertovec; globalisation has led to 'super-diversity' as migrants comes from a wide range of countries, e.g, there are even divisions in ethnic groups based on culture or religion. 
  • Cohen; three types of migrants, Citizens (full citizenship rights), Denizens (rich, foreign nationals) & Helots (illegal trafficked workers & those brought for cheap labour).
  • Hochschild; feminisation of migration, care, domestic & sex work are done by women from poor countries. 
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Deaths

  • In 1900 the death rate stood at 19, in 2013 it had more than halaved to 8.9.
  • Explanations - Tranter; over 3/4 of the decline in death rate from 1850 - 1970 was due to a fall in the number of deaths from infectious diseases.
  • Improved nutrition - McKeown; accounted for 1/2 of the reduction in death rates, especially from TB, better nutrition increased resistance to infection & increased survival chances of those infected. 
  • Criticisms - Does not explain why females, who recieve a smaller share of family food supply live longer than men. 
  • Fails to explain why deaths from some infectious diseases, e.g, measles arose at a time of improving nutrition. 
  • Medical improvements - After the 1950's improved medical knowledge helped to reduce death rates, introductions such as; antibiotics, immunisation, blood transfusions, improved maternity services & the NHS (1948) contributed. More recently by-pass surgery etc...Has reduced deaths from heart disease by 1/3.
  • Smoking & diet - Harper; today obesity has replaced smoking as the new lifestyle epidemic, in 2012 1/4 of all UK adults were obese. We may be moving to an 'American' health culture where people live unhealthily but live longer bc of expensive health care. 
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Deaths pt2

  • Public health measures - Improvements in housing, purer drinking water, laws to combat the adulteration (illegal standards) of food & drink, pasteurising milk & improved sewage disposal methods. Clean Air Acts; reduced air pollution, e.g, smog which lead to 4,000 deaths in five days in 1952. 
  • Life expectancy - Males born in 1900 could expect to live until 50 years, 57 for females.
  • Men born in 2013 can expect to live until 91 years, 94 for females. 
  • In 1900 the low life expectancy was caused because many infants/children did not survive beyond the early years of life. A newborn baby today has a better chance of reaching age 65, than a baby born in 1900 had of reaching it's 1st birthday. 
  • Harper; if the trend of greater longevity (long lifespan) continues we will soon achieve 'radical longetivity', with more people aged over 100. There are 10,000 in the UK now, but it is predicted to meet 1M in 2100. 
  • Class, gender & region - Women generally live longer than men, although the gap has narrowed because of changes in employment/lifestyle, e.g, more women smoking. 
  • Working class men in unskilled or routine jobs are 3x more likely to die before age 65 than those men in managerial or professional jobs. 
  • Walker; those living in the poorest areas of England die on average 7 years earlier than those in the richest areas. 
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Births

  • In 1900 England & Wales had a birth rate of 28.7, in 2014 it had fallen to 12.2.
  • The total fertility rate (TFR) was 2.95 children per woman in 1964, it went to 1.83 in 2014. 
  • Changes in women's position - Harper; the education of women has led to change in mind-set among women, resulting in fewer children. If a pattern of low fertility stays for more than one generation, cultural norms change & large families become deviant or less acceptable. 
  • Women are choosing to delay childbearing, or not have children at all, in order to persue a career, e.g, in 2012 1/5 women aged 45 were childless which 2x more than it was 45 years before. 
  • Decline in infant mortality - Harper; if less children die before age 1, families have less children because they don't need to replace ones they have lost. In 1900 over 15% (154) of babies died before their first year of life, in 2012 it was 4. 
  • Improved housing, sanitation, nutrition, knowledge of child health/welfare & immunisation against childhood diseases may have reduced the infant mortality rate, because babies immune systems are more protected. 
  • Enonomic liability - Children can no longer work to gain money for their families (laws) & changing norms mean children expect more material goods from parents, meaning parents are less likely to want a large family. 
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Births pt2

  • Child centeredness - The quality of a family relationship is more important than quantity, parents have fewer children & lavish them with more attention/resources. 
  • An increase in immigration may be increasing the birth rate because mothers from countries outside the UK have a higher fertility rate, they made up 25% of all births in 2011.
  • Effects -
  • Smaller families mean that women are more free to work, creating a dual earner couple. 
  • The dependency ratio decreases beause there are less children to be dependent on the state. However, there will be a smaller working population in the future increasing the burden of dependency again. 
  • Vanishing children - Children become lonelier with less siblings & childless adults create a lack of voices speaking up for children's interests. However, fewer children mean they are more valued. 
  • Public services & policies - Fewer schools, maternity & child health services may lead to an increase in their costs. 
  • Increases the average age of the population (ageing population) because there are more old people than young people being born. 
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