Population
Explosion
The worlds population is growing EXPONENTIALLY.
This means that the growth rate has become increasingly rapid.
Population Growth
Exponential growth produces a
line that becomes steeper over
time, taking the shape of a J
Today population growth rates
are slowing down, so the
shape of the graph is levelling
off into an S curve.
The population grows if
the birth rate is higher
than the death rate =
NATURAL INCREASE
BIRTH RATE The number of births
per thousand
per year
The population declines if
the death rate is higher
than the birth rate =
NATURAL DECREASE
DEATH RATE
The number of deaths
per thousand
per year
High birth rate - many children
needed to help with farming. No
family planning.
Stage 1
High death rate disease, famine,
little medical knowledge
Example remote groups e.g.
Amazon Indians
High birth rate - many children
needed to help with farming. No
family planning.
Total rising steadily
Falling death rate improvements
in medical care, water supply and
sanitation
Stage 2
Example Afghanistan
Stage 3
Falling birth rate - improved medical
care and diet. Fewer children dying so
fewer needed.
Total rising steadily
Example Brazil
Slowly falling death rate
improvements in medical care,
water supply and sanitation
Stage 4
Example UK, USA
Low birth rate - family planning,
good health, later marriages
Growth rate
Slowing down
Low death rate good healthcare,
Reliable food and water supply
Stage 5
Birth rate is now below
Death rate so the population
is decreasing in total
Population
declining
Natural
decrease
Example Germany, France,
Japan
Death rate steady
good healthcare, reliable food
and water supply
Population structure is
the % of the population in
each age category.
The population structure
of a country is shown by
a population pyramid.
A population pyramid
shows the proportion of
males and females in
each age group.
A census is a count of the
population. In the UK this
takes place every 10 years.
The population pyramid
of an LEDC is typically
a triangular shape.
- The STRUCTURE of the population shown by this
pyramid has:
Few elderly people
A large number of
children and young
people
- The REASONS for the population STRUCTURE
shown below are:
Low life
expectancy
High birth
rate
High death
rate
High infant
mortality rate
The STRUCTURE of the population shown by this
pyramid has:
More elderly
women than men
Many elderly
people
Few children and
young people
The population
pyramid of an
MEDC has a
more
rectangular
shape
- The REASONS for the population STRUCTURE
shown below are:
Long life
expectancy
Low birth rate
Low death
rate
How does each of these factors affect population growth?
Achieving highly in any career demands a large time
commitment, leaving less opportunity for taking maternity
leave or caring for children. Some women make deliberate
choices regarding not having children or having them later,
and these increase as an economy develops.
People migrate from countryside
to towns for jobs & better
education opportunities. Child
labour of less value
Improved technology
improves yields &
saves labour
Agricultural
change
Urbanisation
Workers freed up to
work in industry
migrated to towns
Factors affecting
population growth
Education improves
standard of living
More women
participate in paid
work
Education
Children
become an
economic
disadvantage.
Fewer children
mean more
opportunities for
each one.
As a country
develops &
education improves,
opportunities for
girls increase.
Emancipation of
women
Working women have
less opportunity for
having children Some career
women choose
not to have
children
Larger
families
become
uncommon
LEDCs
For many countries the rate of population growth
is crippling and presents many problems resulting
in low living standards and poverty.
A population policy is a government
strategy for reducing birth rate.
There are variations in the strength
of population policies between
countries.
Arrange the population policies
opposite into order from
weakest
strongest
A - Free contraceptives
B - No policy e.g. Saudi Arabia
C - Sterilisation may be
compulsory
D - Some family planning &
education
E - Strict policy supported by
punishment e.g. China
F - Money and other rewards
for small families
A sustainable population is one whose growth and development is
at a rate that does not threaten the success of future generations.
Why did China need to introduce this policy?
When was it introduced?
What are the key elements of the policy?
How is it enforced?
What are the problems and benefits of the policy?
What changes have been made to the policy in the 1990s and
2000s?
If you have only one child you get:
Free education for that child
Family allowances
Priority housing
Pension benefits
Women must be 20 before they marry and
men 22. Couple have to ask permission to
have their one child.
If you have two children you get:
No free education
No allowances
No pension benefits
You also have to pay a fine
Shanghai family planning officials will provide counselling and
advice to people who want to have a second child.
Changes to Chinas One Child Policy
in the 1990s and 2000s
Young couples who are both only children are allowed two
children, but government workers must set an example and stick
at one.
With increasing wealth more people are able to break the rules,
pay the fine and take the other consequences of having a second
child.
There are some exemptions for rural communities where more
help is needed on the farms, and ethnic minority groups to
ensure the ethnic group continues.
27 / 7 / 2009
Kerala has achieved a very low birth
rate due to its high priority on education.
Both boys and girls are educated well.
Many girls go on to study at university
With a good education women can
get better jobs with higher wages
and dont need to have a lot of children
to help earn money for the family.
Education leads to better knowledge of
diet and healthcare so fewer children die.
Working women also have less time to
have children and look after them.
High cost of medical care,
free prescriptions,
eye tests etc.
Cost of free bus
passes, TV licences
etc.
Fewer people working
and paying taxes
Hospital beds blocked by
many elderly people
Not enough younger
working people to do
the jobs required
More elderly people with a vote
in elections. The government need
to take account of their needs.
People must work
longer and retire
later
People must pay
higher taxes to cover the
cost of extra pensions
Encourage a
higher birth rate to
increase the counties
population
Immigrant workers needed to
fill the gap in the labour force
Advertising e.g.
The Shetland Isles
Accepting
immigrants
How to
increase a
countries
population
Tax incentives
3 year job protection
for mothers
High family
allowances
Ban
contraceptives
Crches at place
of work
Awards for
super mums
e.g. in France
The problems of an
ageing population are
similar in both the UK
and Sweden, BUT their
strategies to cope with
an ageing population
are very different.
PROBLEMS:
HEALTH AND FITNESS an ageing population leads to an increase in
degenerative diseases such as cancer, heart disease, arthritis and
dementia.
HOUSING - many elderly people have specific housing needs, such as
homes without stairs or wider doorways to accommodate wheelchairs.
INCREASING CARE NEEDS - most elderly people need increasing levels
of care over time. They may eventually move into sheltered
accommodation or nursing homes.
PENSIONS - as more and more people live longer lives, they will claim
their state pensions and other benefits for longer.
FEWER WORKERS - as the UKs population continues to age there will
be a smaller and smaller working population and a larger dependent one.
These problems will eventually affect the countrys economy and its future
development. Less income tax from a smaller working population will reduce
its ability to pay for the increasing demands of healthcare, pensions etc.
Strategies in the UK to cope with an ageing
population
In 2009 the British government launched a strategy called Building
A Society For All Ages. Its intention was to help the UK to adapt to
its ageing population. The strategy covered 6 key areas.
Ideas within the strategy include:
Offer free NHS health checks from 40 70 to encourage people to
maintain and improve their health and fitness.
Provide financial help for grandparents who care for grandchildren.
Review the age at which people retire.
Provide extra winter fuel payments.
Working with developers and architects to build
homes suitable for older people e.g. with doorways
wide enough for wheelchairs.
Strategies in Sweden to cope with an ageing
population
Another way of coping with an ageing population is to encourage
people to have more children. This will eventually change the countrys
population structure, increase the working population, and increase the
countrys ability to pay for pensions etc.
Sweden has adopted this approach, which is called PRO-NATALIST.
The Swedish government has introduced a range of benefits to encourage
couples to have more children.
13 months paid paternity leave for fathers at 80% of
their salary.
Extra money for couples if there is less than a 30 month
gap between children.
Child benefit is paid for each child.
Sick child care - 120 paid days per child per year.
All day childcare and all-day schools for all.
When did migration from eastern Europe begin?
Who migrates?
What type of work do they do?
What benefits do the eastern Europeans bring to the UK?
What problems are created?
What is likely to happen in the future?
Where do the European migrants to the UK come
from?
Problems for the
losing country
Problems for the
receiving country
Loses people of working
age
Migrants often live in low
quality, overcrowded areas
Loses most educated
people
May not be enough jobs for
the local population
Families are split up
Migrants tend not to integrate
leading to racial tension
An elderly population
left behind
Language difficulties
Migrants put a strain
on resources e.g.
schools and health care
Advantages for the
losing country
Reduces pressure
on jobs
Loses people of
child bearing age
so the birth rate
declines
Advantages for the
receiving country
Overcomes job
shortages
Migrants prepared
to do dirty, unskilled
jobs
Cultural benefits e.g.
Indian restaurants and
The Notting Hill Carnival
Could increase the
number of skilled
workers e.g. doctors
Refugee are people who
are forced to leave their
country in fear of their lives
e.g. through war or a natural
disaster.
Most refugees are made to flee their
homes by human or political rather
than by natural causes.
POLITICAL
religious, political
or racial persecution
civil war
NATURAL
environmental disasters
such as floods, drought,
earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions.
Natural cause - Montserrat 1997
Human / political factors - February 2003
Asylum seekers are .
1/3 of immigrants
into the EU claim
to be a asylum
seekers
Some economic
migrants have claimed to
be asylum seekers
believing this would give
them a better chance of
staying in the EU.
...... people who are at risk if they stay in their own country.
They become refugees when they settle in another country.
Today, the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan in which
EU forces are involved,
provide most asylum
claims.
Afghanistan September 2001 - Human / political factors
Refugees cling to an overcrowded truck as
they arrive at a refugee camp in Pakistan
2 million Iraqis have left
their country, some for
neighbouring countries,
some for the EU
Sweden is
particularly
generous to
asylum seekers.
By 2007, 70,000
Iraqis lived there
Iraqis are the
largest group
currently
seeking refuge
in the EU
The Netherlands,
Germany, Greece,
Belgium and the
UK have given
homes to another
70,000
