Family's and Households : Demography

Question 1

What is the meaning of birth rate?

Answer 1

The number of live births per 1,000 people per year.

Question 2

Reasons for declining birth rate?

Answer 2

✅ Changes in position of women (Sharpe, feminism)
✅ Decline in infant mortality rate (IMR)
✅ Children are now economic liabilities (cost of raising = £250k+)
✅ Child-centeredness – people have fewer children, but invest more
✅ Contraception & abortion access

Question 3

What are the trends in the UK birth rate?

Answer 3

📉 General decline since 1900
📈 Baby booms after World Wars and during the 1960s
📉 Recent fluctuations but overall lower than early 20th century

Question 4

What does Harper (2012) argue about birth rate?

Answer 4

➡️ Decline is due to education of women
➡️ Women delay childbirth or choose career over children

Question 5

What is the meaning of Total Fertility Rate (TFR)?

Answer 5

➡️ Average number of children a woman has during her lifetime
📉 Currently well below replacement level (~1.6 UK)

Question 6

What are the effects of a declining birth rate?

Answer 6

✅ Smaller families
✅ More dual-earner households
❌ Ageing population
❌ Future labour shortages

Question 7

What is the meaning of death rate?

Answer 7

The number of deaths per 1,000 people per year.

Question 8

What are the trends in the death rate?

Answer 8

📉 Long-term decline since 1900
📈 Brief rises during wars or pandemics (e.g. COVID-19)

Question 9

Reasons for the decline in death rate?

Answer 9

✅ Improved nutrition (McKeown)
✅ Better healthcare & medicine (e.g. NHS 1948)
✅ Public health measures – clean water, housing
✅ Decline in manual labour and pollution
✅ Improved living standards and income

Question 10

What did McKeown (1972) argue?

Answer 10

➡️ Fall in death rate mostly due to better nutrition, not medical advances
✅ Strong immune systems = fewer deaths from infection

Question 11

What is life expectancy?

Answer 11

➡️ The average number of years a person is expected to live
📈 Has increased significantly over the last century
(UK: ~81 years overall, higher for women)

Question 12

What is the meaning of ageing population?

Answer 12

A growing proportion of the population is over 65
📈 Due to lower birth rates and longer life expectancy

Question 13

Consequences of an ageing population?

Answer 13

❌ More pressure on healthcare and pensions
❌ Higher dependency ratio
✅ Rise in beanpole families (Brannen)
✅ Active ageing – older people stay healthy & work longer

Question 14

What does Hirsch (2005) argue?

Answer 14

➡️ Ageing population will lead to policy changes:

Retirement age must rise

More people must save for pensions
➡️ May lead to age-based inequalities

Question 15

What is the meaning of dependency ratio?

Answer 15

➡️ Ratio of non-working population (young + old) to the working-age population
📈 Rising due to ageing population
❌ Puts pressure on taxpayers and services

Question 16

What is migration?

Answer 16

➡️ The movement of people from one place to another
➡️ Can be immigration (into a country) or emigration (out of a country)

Question 17

What are the recent trends in migration?

Answer 17

📈 High levels of immigration, especially from the EU, Commonwealth, and global South
📈 More emigration for work, study, retirement
📈 Increase in net migration

Question 18

Reasons for increased immigration?

Answer 18

✅ Globalisation
✅ EU freedom of movement (pre-Brexit)
✅ Demand for cheap labour
✅ Refugees from war/conflict
✅ Reunification with family

Question 19

What are the impacts of immigration on UK families?

Answer 19

✅ Greater family diversity (e.g. extended families in South Asian communities)
✅ More dual heritage/mixed families
✅ Increase in birth rates (immigrants tend to have more children)
✅ Changes in cultural values and norms

Question 20

What does Vertovec (2007) say about super-diversity?

Answer 20

➡️ Global migration has led to super-diversity — people come from many backgrounds, with different legal statuses, cultures, and family structures

Question 21

What is hybrid identity in relation to migration?

Answer 21

➡️ A person’s identity that is a mixture of multiple ethnicities or cultures
✅ Common among 2nd/3rd generation migrants
➡️ Can cause identity conflict

Question 22

What is the impact of emigration on UK society?

Answer 22

➡️ Reduction in unemployment pressure
➡️ Loss of skilled workers
➡️ Global remittances sent home from migrants

Question 23

What is globalisation in terms of demography?

Answer 23

➡️ Increased movement of people, goods, ideas, and capital
➡️ Has led to increased migration and family diversity

Question 24

What is the feminisation of migration?

Answer 24

➡️ Today, more migrants are female
➡️ Women often work in care roles (cleaning, childcare, nursing)
➡️ Led to rise of global care chains (Hochschild)

Question 25

What is a global care chain? (Hochschild)

Answer 25

➡️ Migrant women leave their own families to care for others’ children or elderly in richer countries ➡️ Emotional labour is outsourced globally

Question 26

Evaluation: How does demography affect the family?

Answer 26

✅ Smaller families ✅ More diversity ✅ Greater age range (e.g. beanpole families) ✅ Role of grandparents increasing ❌ More pressure on workers and services ❌ Cultural tensions in multicultural society