4.4 Management of natural increase Case Study

Question 1

What was the problem in China?

Answer 1

rapid population growth:
- in 1949 when Chinese communist party came to power, they encouraged a high birth rate in order to have more people to produce food and to build and strong army
- population grew from 540 million to 830 million in twenty years
- fertility rate in 1970s over 6 per woman
-
Food shortage:
- famine in 1961 - worry about population size

Limited resources:
- high unemployment constricting development
- shift towards smaller population = help lift out of poverty: slogans e.g fewer births, better quality

Question 2

What was the one child policy?

Answer 2

• introduced in 1979 planned to last 100 years but officially ended in 2015
• couples who only had one child were given benefits like longer maternity leave, better housing, free healthcare and free education for their one child
• if couple has second child, benefits topped and they were fined a proportion of their income
• fertility rate i 1970s 5.8 compared to just 1.8 in 2010
• the hukou system was sued to restrict access to services for those who did not follow

Question 3

How did the gov try to support the China policy?

Answer 3

• to support policy the gov introduced:
• law to prevent people marrying before a certain age
• free contraception and family planning advice
• permission slip to allow a couple to try for a child
• very late abortions to terminate second pregnancies
• free sterilisation for couples already with one child

Question 4

What are the future troubles due to China’s one child policy?

Answer 4

• improved healthcare and better food supplies mean the death rate in China is now only 8 per thousand per year: labour shortages, pension deficits and economic burden
• as the chines population ages, the single child will have to support two ageing parent and four grandparents :4-2-1 problem
• single children tend to be indulged and even spoilt. means they may not be able to work well with others when they grow up.
• because of preference for sons rather than daughters, now 30 million more young men than young women in China. May not fin wives = social problems

Question 5

How has the China policy been effective?

Answer 5

• fertility rate dropped from 2.9 in 1979 to 1.8 in 2009
• policy has prevented 400 million births and Chinese population much lower than it used to be
• ## fewer resources have been used and people have a higher standard of living and quality of life then they would have had with a bigger population

Question 6

Ageing population case study

Answer 6

East Devon:
- dependancy ratio 54/100
- 16% of UK population is over 65 compared to 30% in 2021 census in east devon

Question 7

Impacts of ageing population in East Devon

Answer 7

Social:
- high percentage of old people are unattractive to young people and so they don’t want to live there
- pensioners have reduced income
- strain economically to fund pensions
- more pressure on NHS
- social isolation
- 125,000 live near the coast - issues associated with that (receding coastline - houses - happisburgh)
- increase in retirement properties
- grandparents look after grandchildren so parents can work saving several million pounds each year
- 60% do swimming sessions at their local people- boost community spirit

Economic:
- in UK economy over-70s only contribute £19 billion
- reduced tax revenue

Future:
- market for catering for the elderly will grow
- east devon pensioners already have an action forum and are trying to get lower council taxes, larger pensions and benefits

Question 8

Food shortages case study

Answer 8

South Sudan hunger crisis:
- 2017 famine - approx 75% rely on aid to survive
- 2017, 1 million children malnourished
- more recently, 2024 floods affected 735,000 causing further shortages
- 7.1 million facing extreme hunger

Question 9

France - pro natalist policy

Answer 9

• trying to increase the birth rate by offering multiple benefits to having children
• 3 years paid parental leave
• maternity/paternity leave
• schooling paid
• day care paid
• earlier retirement
• job gurantee
• success - 80%

Question 10

What are the issues caused by a youthful population in Uganda?

Answer 10

Health service:
- shortage of midwives an maternity hospitals
- 6000 women die in childbirth each year because of these shortages
- health service under pressure due to HIV/AIDS
- this situation could become worse in future as young people grow up
- high fertility rate: over 6 in the early 2000s but has now decreased to around 4.3

Education:
- only half of children in education - puts pressure on gov to create more child places
- education will reduce BR and spread of HIV/AIDS so is a priority
- when large number of children grow unemployment could rise further, causing poverty to increase

Question 11

What policies have Uganda gov adopted to combat these problems?

Answer 11

Reduce Birth rate:
- family planning 2030 commitment: increase access/use of contraception amongst women
- national family planning CIP: with gov commiting $25 million between 2021-2025
- high adolescent pregnancy rate: 10% of funding/resources to adolescent services
- ABC policy to reduce spread of HIV/AIDS
- money spent on training teachers/increasing school places
- to reduce unemployment, gov encouraged TNCs to set up factories, such as Coca-cola
- gov increased spending on national infrastructure
- foreign aid encouraged

Question 12

how has china since adapted their one child policy

Answer 12

2015: two-child policy introduced due to aging crisis
2021: three-child policy announced
2023: full restrictions removed - now encouraging childbirth

Example of issues: Hena - most populous rural province with strict enforcement of one child policy with community officials tracking pergnancies but now rapid aging population