Geography

Geography 1: Places and Landscapes in a Changing World
Sir Euca Ramos/WFR
Group 8: Badiong, Mangui-ob, Tirthdas
Population Dynamics and Processes, Demographic Transition Theory, and Population Debates and Policies 1. Population Dynamics & Processes * Evaluation of a different understanding of population growth and change * 2 significant factors * Fertility: birth rates * Mortality: death rates

* Birth, or Fertility, Rates * Crude birth rate (CBR) * The ratio of the number of lives births in a single year for every thousand people in the population. * Measures the birth rate in terms of the total population and not with respect to a particular age specific group or cohort * Differences exist in specific groups especially at age and sex cohorts at their reproductive peaks * Economic development important factor in shaping the CBR as well as other important influences such as : * The demographic structure of the population * Women’s educational achievement * Religion * Social customs * Diet and health * Politics and civil unrest * The availability of birth control methods is also important to a country’s birth rate * Total fertility rate (TFR) * “A measure of the average number of children a woman will have throughout the years that demographers have identified as her child bearing years.” * “A more predictive measure that attempts to portray what birth rates will be among a particular cohort of women over time” * A TFR slightly higher than 2 has achieve replacement-level fertility * Doubling time * “a measure of how long it will take the population of an area to grow twice its current size.”

* The Baby Boom and the Aging of the Population * Babies born between 1946 an 1964 in the United States of America are considered to be the baby boom generation * They have been described as “ one of the most powerful and enduring demographic influences on this nation” * Studying the baby boom generation is a way of understanding the complex factors that shape demographic change * Can only be explained by looking at the different factors * Demographic Factors: * The baby boom cannot be seen as a direct or indirect result of the end of the war * Marriages increased after WWII; but the rise in birth rates is only from 1946 to 1947 * 1950-birth rates had fallen slightly * 1951 birthrates rose again until 1964

* Political and economic factors * After the WWII, there was an expansion in the U.S economy * There were important transformations in transportation and technology * Created programs for returning veterans that helped them start marriage life or improve their economic status by attending college * The construction of the interstate highway system helped to fuel suburnization * Higher demand for labor due to the growing economy * The Aging Population * The baby boom did not only occur in the United States but also in core countries and some periphery countries * “The most fundamental demographic transformation of the twenty-first century is the aging of the population” * There will be fewer working age people to support the needs of the aging population * Older and smaller population pose very serious problems such as * Employment * Economic growth * Health care * Pensions * Social support services * Increasing immigration opportunities for young immigrants from countries who have a rapid population growths could be a solution * The Impacts on Younger Americans * Demographers have demonstrated the presence of a “baby bust” generation * 2 ways to determine the extent of this cohort: * Through annual births rates * Includes the generation born between 1965 and 1980 * In terms of total fertility rate * 1947-1964: TFR ranged between 3.1-3.7 * 1965: TFR dropped below replacement level * 1976: TFR hit all time low of 1.7 * 1977-1987: TFR stable at 1.8 * 1990: TFR climbed to 2.09, this marked the end of the baby bust generation * Generation X * Babies born between 1965-1975 * Were know as “slackers” because of the association with grunge music and anti-establishment attitude it stood for. * Generation Y * The generation born after Generation X * Babies born between 1982-1994 * Referred to as “the Echo Boomers” or “the NetGeneration” * They represent a small rise or a “boomlet” in birth rates which “echoes” the baby boom. * First generation born into the digital age, and to a society familiar to the internet * The baby boom generation carries the future of the nation’s economic and social security along with it * They will continue to influence the political structures we have today.

* Death, or Mortality, Rates * Crude Death Rate (CDR) * “The ratio of the number of deaths on one year to every thousand people in the population” * Important influences on mortality: * Health-care availability * Social class * Occupation * Place of residence * Difference with CBR is the rate of natural increase or the rate of natural decrease * Natural increase: the surplus of births over deaths * Natural decrease: the deficit of births relative to deaths * Infant mortality rate * This entry gives the number of deaths of infants under one year old in a given year per 1,000 live births in the same year * Used to indicate the health care system and access to health care of a country or region * Life expectancy * The average number of years an infant newborn can expect to live * Life expectancy is different for every region, country, class, racial group and ethnic group. * Epidemics is a key factor in influencing life expectancy * It can alter population numbers and composition * Medical geography: A subarea of the discipline that specializes in understanding the spatial aspects of health and illness

2. Demographic Transition Theory * Demographic Transition * A model of population change in which high birth and death rates are replaced by low birth and death rates. * The transition involves four stages: * Death rates and birth rates are high and are roughly in balance. * Death rates drop rapidly due to improvements in food supply and sanitation, which increases life spans and reduces diseases. Without a corresponding fall in birth rates, the countries in this stage experience a large increase in population. * Birth rates fall due to access to contraception, increases in wages, urbanization, an increase in the status and education of women, and other social changes. Population growth begins to level off. * Birth rates and death rates are both low. Birth rates may drop below replacement level, leading to a shrinking population. Death rates may remain consistently low or increase slightly due to increases in lifestyle diseases due to low exercise levels and high obesity. * Once a society moves from a preindustrial economic base to an industrial one, population grows more slowly. * The slowing of population growth is attributable to improved economic production and higher standards of living brought about by better health care, education, and sanitation. * Some experts insist that the usefulness of the model is applicable only to the demographic history of core countries.

3. Population Debates and Policies * Population and Resources * Debate originated in the work of Thomas Robert Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population * Food is necessary to the existence of human beings * The passion between the sexes is necessary and constant * Malthus’ premises and propositions were disputed * William Goodwin: “there is no evil under which the human species cannot labor, that man is not competent to cure.” * Karl Marx and Frederich Engles: Technological development and an equitable distribution of resources was the solution * Geographer David Harvey * Malthus: A doomsday conclusion * Marx: more solutions can be generated that are based on human creativity and socially generated innovation * Neo-Malthusians * Predict a population doomsday * The growing human population poses the most dangerous threat to the enviroment * Solution: Strict demographic controls everywhere * Moderate approach * People’s behaviour and governmental policies have greater impact that population size in and of itself * Rejects casting the population issue as a biological one or as a economic issue * Issue is a political one: governments have avoided dealing with * Can too many people exist for the Earth? * Concern has led to the formation of international agencies & to the organization of international conferences * Better chance of development if the population is kept from outstripping the supply of resource and jobs * Population Policies & Programs * Population Policy * “is an official government policy designed to affect any or all of several objectives, including the size, composition, and distribution of population.” * Difference from a program * Policy: identifies goals and objectives * Program instrument for meeting those goals and objectives * Population policies usually attempt to reduce the number of births * Family planning programs * Response to the rapidly increasing global population * Imbalanced population growth between the core and the periphery * United Nations sponsor international conferences at 10-year intervals * Recognizes the history, social and cultural practices, development level and goals and political structures are highly variable * One policy to limit fertility will not work for all * Reducing fertility * Family planning regulations * Authorization of marriage * Offering incentives for one child households * Severe disincentives for larger households * Free contraceptives and family-planning counseling * Increasing access to social resources * Equality between genders in and out of the household * Birth control options and education on them * Sustainable Development, Gender, and Population Issues * Globalization has led in the active participation of women in the labor force * Increase in their economic and social value; decline in birth rates globally * Increase levels of home work, telework, and part time work * International agencies turning to economic development to limit births and improve quality of life. * Sustainable Economic Development worldwide * Shapes population growth and the quality of life in the periphery * Opens up new markets for core products and services * Extends the capitalist worlds-system References: * Knox, P.L., Marston, S.A., and Nash, A.E. (2004) Human Geography: Places and Regions in Global Context. Pearson Education Canada, Inc. Toronto, Canada

References: * Knox, P.L., Marston, S.A., and Nash, A.E. (2004) Human Geography: Places and Regions in Global Context. Pearson Education Canada, Inc. Toronto, Canada