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This chapter explores the critical elements of population change, focusing on birthrates, death rates, and migration rates, which influence a region's demographic dynamics. It outlines the Malthusian Theory, emphasizing the relationship between population growth and food supply, along with preventive and positive checks. The Demographic Transition Theory highlights the evolution of population patterns from preindustrial to post-industrial societies, marking shifts in birth and death rates. Finally, it discusses strategies for controlling population growth through family planning and economic improvements.
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Population Change Chapter 16, Section 1
Measuring Population • Population= # of people living in a given area at a time. • Demography= the area of sociology that focuses on studying human populations. • Three factors affecting a region’s population: • Birthrate • Death rate • Rate of migration • Help determine how populations change over time.
Birthrate • Birthrate= births within a population • Live births/total population x 1,000 • Gives the number of births per 1,000 individuals. • Fertility vs. fecundity • Fertility # of births that actually occurred by women of childbearing age. • Fecundity measures those ABLE to have children • Affected by various social, economic and health factors.
Death Rate • Mortality= number of deaths within a society. • Deaths/total population x 1,000 • Death rates do not present an accurate picture of a country’s conditions… so, sociologists also use two other factors: infant mortality rate and life expectancy. • Infant mortality rate=deaths among infants/total live births x 1,000 • Life expectancy= average # of years a person can expect to live. • There is a correlation between IMR and life expectancy.
Migration Rate • Demographers also have to take into account the migration of individuals when determining a country’s population. • In-migration vs. out-migration • Migration rate= annual difference between in-migration and out-migration.
Growth Rate • The three variables affect the size of a population. • Rate at which a population is increasing= growth rate. • Birthrate – death rate = growth rate. • Negative vs. positive growth rates… is the population growing or shrinking? • Practice calculating country growth rates. - http://www.os-connect.com/pop/p3n.asp
Explaining Population Change • Thomas Robert Malthus • Malthusian Theory= population increases in a multiplicative fashion, whereas food supply only grows in an arithmetic progression. • Basically… The population is growing too rapidly for the food supply to keep up. • Malthus proposed ‘checks’ on population. • Preventive checks birth control, sexual self-control and delayed marriage and childbearing. • Positive checks war, disease and famine.
Malthus (cont’d) • But, Malthus could not foresee two coming changes in society… • Advancement of agricultural techniques that allowed farmers to produce more on same amount of land • Birth control emerges as an effective and widely used method.
Demographic Transition Theory • Population patterns are tied to a society’s level of technological development. • Three stages of a society’s population. • Stage 1 • Preindustrial societies; high birthrate and death rate. • I.e. central African societies • Stage 2 • Industrial societies; high birthrates and low death rates (due to improved conditions) • Guatemala and other Latin American countries • Stage 3 • Industrial/post-industrial societies; low birthrates and death rates. • North America and Europe
Demographic Transition Theory • Stage 4 • Low birthrate, low death rate, and increasing life expectancy. • Stage 5 • Low birthrate (less than in Stage 4), low death rate, and increasing life expectancy.
Controlling Population Growth • Current world’s population: 7,085,347,650* • Current U.S. population: 315,859,727* * as of 10:49 am 5/15/2013 • Two main strategies to control the world’s population- family planning and economic improvements
Family Planning • Strategy used to lower the birthrate; occurs when couples consciously decide to have a certain number of children. • Helps reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies. • Antinatalism= strict form of family planning involving official policies designed to discourage childbirth. • In 1980, China adopted an incentive and sanction system. • Government benefits for those who adhere to one child policy; large fines and penalties for those that do not.
Economic Improvements • Better health, higher levels of income and access to education will help lower birthrates. • However, many impoverished countries do not have the resources to provide this economic assistance. • Demographers suggest evenly redistributing wealth within a nation to help reduce poverty.