In 1930, Thompson developed one of the first theories to explain the decline in fertility rates starting to be seen in industrializing nations (Thompson, 1930). Joined by Notestein in 1953, this classical theory of demographic transition postulates that changes in social life from industrialization and urbanization would cause first a decline in mortality followed by a decline in fertility (Notestein, 1953; Mason, 1997). Since the early 20th century, the world has undergone major demographic changes. In the first decade of the 21st century for the first time, the old outnumbered the young, and the median number of children per woman fell below replacement levels (Cohen, 2005). These major changes illustrate the now well-known concept of …show more content…
Demography is influenced by a multitude of factors, many of which are yet unknown or unquantifiable. Demographic changes can arise from unsuspecting sources; for example Chong et al (2008) found that the spread of soap operas in Brazil, which portrayed smaller families than typical in Brazil, contributed to fertility decline in that country through shifting cultural ideals. Acknowledging that demographic changes occur due to a great variety of economic, social, cultural, ecologic and other causes, I will focus on the role that health policies can play in demographic trends both pre- and post- the demographic transition by examining the cases of Bangladesh and Germany.
I will also examine how demographic trends may influence economic growth. During the period of population growth in the demographic transition, society may experience economic growth in what is known as the demographic dividend. During this period, the population participating in the labor force is greater than the dependent population, freeing up resources for innovation and investment (Lee and Mason, 2006). However, this dividend is not guaranteed but must be created through a conducive policy environment (Bloom et al, 2003). Post-transition, economic growth continues to be a concern as society confronts the burden of an aging, and potentially shrinking, population.
Making the demographic transition: Bangladesh
Bangladesh has been experiencing its demographic transition
Except for a short interference in the last 1960s, this descending pattern has proceeded to the present time. By 1974 the unrefined birth rate (temporary) remained at 15 births for every 1,000 populaces, the most reduced level at any point recorded. This decay has been hard to clarify, particularly since the broadened post World War II "time of increased birth rates" accomplices have now entered the regenerative ages, accordingly significantly expanding the extent of prime childbearing age lady. Information acquired by the Statistics Department's Present Populace Review demonstrate that since the late 1950s the extent of men and ladies wedded at more youthful ages has
Population growth has been running rampant in developing countries for the past century due to a lack of education, medical care, and gender equality. According to Jonathon Porrit, a British environmentalist and writer, “The combined population of the four countries [Ethiopia, Uganda, Somalia and Kenya] was 40 million in 1960. Now it is nearly 170 million [in late 2011].” “Overall, the human population has quadrupled in the twentieth century”(Cromwell 167) alone due to technological and medical advancements of the industrial revolution Because of the Industrial revolution, there have been many advancements in medicine, leading to lower morality rates in developed and developing countries alike. Developing countries lack the education and family planning that they need in order to maintain a stable and healthy population. Family planning is the act of” anticipate and attain their desired number of children and the spacing and timing of their births. It is achieved through use of contraceptive methods and the
In Chapter 15: Aging and the Elderly, the U.S. birth rate has been falling for more than a century. It happens because children are more likely to survive into adulthood, and so couple have fewer children. As more women work outside the home, they choose to have fewer children. Greater material wealth and advances in medicine have raised living standards so that people benefit from better housing and more nutrition. The oldest segment of the U.S. population, is increasing rapidly and is already forty times greater than in 1900.
The demographic transition is a three-stage model of population growth in Europe. In the first stage there is a stable population because birth and death rates are both high. The second stage happens as mortality rates begin to slowly decline, but birth rates stay high. When this stage happens, there is fast population growth. During the third stage, the population is more stable as both birth and death rates are low and are more or less balanced. In more recent years, a fourth stage as been brought on by Anti-Malthusians. During this stage, population shrinkage occurs because the deaths begin to outnumber the births. Europe provides a great example to the theory of demographic transition. After speedy population growth of stage two, Europe settled at stage three with a stable population. It is currently in stage four with a shrinking population. In most European nations there are lesser births than deaths which could ultimately create other social problems.
According to data from the Urban Institute, birth rates among 20-year-old women declined 15% between 2007 and 2012. Research shows that only 1/3rd of couples are choosing to start families. There are many reasons as to why birthrates have decreased. For newlywed couples who are looking to start a family, money and debt may play a serious role. On the other hand, as more women graduate college the need for advancing in their career outweighs the need for children. For others, the idea of kids, in general, may be unsettling. Finally, there is a growing sentiment that having children may be the selfish thing to do.
The majority of developed nations have experienced several profound demographic changes over the last century—notably, an important decline in fertility rates paired with a substantial reduction of mortality, due in part to the changing nature of leading causes of death. In Canada, the total fertility rate was 3.5 children per woman in 1921 and fell to 1.61 in 2011 (Wadhera and Strachan 1993a; Statis- tics Canada 2013a). Life expectancy at birth for both sexes combined rose, from 57.0 years in 1921 to 81.7 in 2011 (Canadian Human Mortality Database 2014). Migration has also become an increasingly important contributor to population growth over this time period. Whereas less than 25 per cent of the Canadian population growth was due to migratory
Chapter 16 also brings up the issue of population increase. With the demographic transition theory, we learn about the trends of each societies as they go through modernization. In the book as well as the article, we learn about IPAT. Formula
The demographic transition theory is a widespread explanation of the changing mold of humanity, fertility and increase rates as civilizations move from one demographic system to another. “The term was first coined by the American demographer Frank W. Notestein in the mid-twentieth century, but it has since been elaborated and expanded upon by many others” (The Demographic Transition, 2012). There are four stages of demographic transition.
During the cold war era the life expectancy grew by about 15 years, however in the 1980’s the world saw a decline in life expectancy especially in the USSR falling from 70 years down to 53 years old(C&C 1040). Along with this came an uncertainty for population growth in developed and underdeveloped countries. For example, in China Emperor Deng established a one child policy, in Iran and other Islam dominate countries governments were urging families to space out their conceptions(C&C 1041).
For the past two decades a shifting pattern of diseases and health care service has been observed globally as population increase. Epidemiological transition also known as demographic transition, is a model that is used to explain how population growth rates increase and decrease with respect to time and different factors that account into it such as infectious disease, chronic disease and industrialization. “Conceptually, the theory of epidemiologic transition focuses on the complex change in patterns of health and disease and on the interactions between these patterns and their demographic, economic and sociologic determinants and consequences” (Omran, 2005). This model describes the changing patterns of population distributions in four stages: Age of pestile and famine, age of declining pandemic, age of degenerative and man-made diseases, and postindustrial age.
The hesitation that couples have and the higher use of contraceptives has also impacted this demographic transition. According to, Population Education “The rate of decline is dependent on economic and social factors at play- the quicker gains are made in areas such as education and gender equality, the faster birth rates decline” (Grover, 2014). It is easily noticeable that as couples choose to allow money to dictate the decisions they make, in particularly having a kid, the less births will
Some demographers believe that the demographic transition will happen to countries everywhere. With urbanization and modernization, they claim rates of natural increase will naturally fall. This is needed most, of course, in much of Asia, Africa, and Latin America where there is great poverty and rapid population growth. Most of the developed world has gone through the transition, and population in the wealthier countries is nearly stable. Detractors of this argument point out that those poorer countries today are very different from the wealthy ones during their early stages of economic growth. They also say the political and economic environment today also work to the disadvantage of the poor
Based on the Census, from 2005 to 2050 (Figure 1) the presumptions about richness and birth rates, dying, immigration, and migration are the 3 main categories for demographic change. These shouldn’t be looked upon as expectations for further years to come, since they are dependent on the future drifts in socioeconomic and political enclosures. Moroeover, these hypotheses can expand because of critical parts of the populace interrelated progressions. A sample is if migration lessens. This could then accelerate a decrease in the conception rate because of recommended examination expressing that vast families have a tendency to be connected with the migrant populace instead of local conceived occupants.
In 1950, the average number of children per woman was around 5 and in 2010 that number decreased by 50 percent to 2.5. The major contributor to this dramatic change was advancements in medicine (i.e. birth control). In 1950 the life expectancy of a child was forty-seven and in 2010 it went to seventy. One of the major contributors to this shift was lifestyle changes to healthier living (exercise, diet and less smoking) and advancements in medicine. With aging societies, there comes some potential negative implications to international stability and US national security.
Demography is the study of the components of population variation and change. Death rate and birth rate are two determinants of population change. Theory of Demographic Transition is comparatively recent theory that has been accepted by several scholars throughout the world. This theory embraces the observation that all countries in the world go through different stages in the growth of population. A nation's economy and level of development is directly related to that nation's birth and death rates. Population history can be divided into different stages. Some of the scholars have divided it into three and some scholars have divided it into five stages. These stages or classifications demonstrate a